Ruby For Women

Scentsy fundraiser for the ministry of Ruby for Women has started!

02 Sep 2010

Nina

Holiday shopping, Maritza Bonilla, Scentsy Fundraiser

Thank you to one of our members, Maritza Bonilla, for helping the Ruby for Women community with a fundraiser in September. From September 1 – 24, 2010 you will be able to support the ministry of Ruby for Women and get a head-start on your holiday shopping ;o) We’ll have a link here for you to find all of the beautiful Scentsy products on Maritza’s website, and you’ll have most of the month of September to participate in this fund-raiser.

Helping Ruby For Women is really easy, just order online or call Maritza!

Ordering Online…just 4 easy steps:

1. Go to my web site at www.bonilla.scentsy.us

2. On the left side of my Home page is a box titled “My Open Parties”

3. Just scroll down until you find “Ruby For Women Fundraiser”

4. Click on “Buy from Party”

Need help, have questions or to order by phone call:

Maritza Bonilla at 702-738-6901.

The Unkinkable Hose: Weekly Devotional by Lynn Mosher

02 Sep 2010

Nina

Christian Life, Commitment to Christ, Daily Inspiration, Devotions, Editors and Staff, God's Grace, Lynn Mosher, Seasonal, Spiritual Growth

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Once in a great while, our Kentucky summers surprise us with a respite from the normal hot and humid yuckiness and treat us to a pleasant evening. Recently, my husband and I sat on our patio to enjoy one of these rare evenings outdoors.

Hubby decided to hook up his new, good 100 foot hose to the sprinkler for the backyard. As he did, he mentioned that he wished he had gotten it a long time ago. Why? Because it does not kink and allows a continuous flow of water.

I started thinking about the unkinkable hose. It reminded me of our relationship with the Lord. As He has blessed us lately with some very needed income, I wanted to be sure my husband was keeping up with the tithe since he writes all the checks.

After I asked him about it, I said, “I don’t want to put a kink in the hose!” After we giggled about it, the thought settled into my brain as I started to think about the comparison between the old hose, which always got kinks in it and even the little kinks cut off the flow of water, defeating its purpose, and the new hose, which will never get a kink in it and will always let the water flow properly, thereby fulfilling its purpose.

I wondered…What puts a kink in the purpose for my life? What stops the flow of Living Water? Is it selfishness? Is it pride? Is it murmuring and complaining? Is it other negative speech? Or is it something I’m overlooking or choose to ignore?

Do I have a blind spot when it comes to “little sins” as little kinks? Like nibbling on the forbidden fruit of a little cheating, a little white lie, a little stealing of pens or paper from the company or altering timecards, a little flirting at work, a little dirty joke, a little gossip, a little peeking at this or winking at that?

Whatever sins you allow in your life, they will put a kink in the flow of your relationship with the Lord, defeating the purpose of your life.

When you finally unkink your life, don’t you always wish you’d done it sooner?

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

Is Your Spiritual Armor Effective? by Deborah McCarragher

26 Aug 2010

Nina

Christian Life, Commitment to Christ, Daily Inspiration, Deborah McCarragher, Devotions, Ephesians, Spiritual Armor, Spiritual Growth

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The Israelites had two types of armor they wore depending upon the battle at hand. Light armor consisted of a sling, bow and quiver. But heavy armor included a large shield, helmet and spear (or sword). Our spiritual armor is both offensive and defensive in nature. It should also be noted that there is no protection from rear attack, confirming the assertion that we do not retreat with the Lord. Isaiah 52:12 states, “For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

“The whole armor of God” conveys the message of a heavily-armed soldier. Paul describes in Ephesians 6:10-17 the various pieces of spiritual armor the believer should wear. Paul states in verse 10 & 11, “…be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Paul most likely thought of the heavily armored Roman guards as he penned his description of our battle gear. Of course, his concern was the spiritual battle the followers of Christ would encounter as they were persecuted for their faith. He understood the importance of praying and relying on God’s strength in times of trail. He knew that satan desired the destruction of the early church. Peter also wrote about evil and spiritual battles. I Peter 5:8 tells us to, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

The belt (girdle) was worn around the waist and held the sword in place as it hung ready for battle. Truth is our belt and it wraps around our very being, keeping us steady, sure, and grounded for God’s use. His Truth is His Word, and we must walk in it purposefully. Jesus Himself is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Truth sets us free from the bondage of sin and deception (John 8:32).

The breastplate covered the life-giving organs including the heart and lungs. The righteousness of Christ must be our covering. Our heart is the center of our emotions. We are to be strong and courageous, which involves the will. A soldier can be well armed, and yet venerable to destruction if he is timid or faint of heart. No physical covering can protect him from spiritual harm unless he is stout of heart and resolute. I Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

The sandals (greaves) covered the feet & shins, and prevented injury from sharp sticks and gall-traps. Spiritually speaking, the shoes carry the good news of the gospel and take us steadily on our way to the cross. Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news…who proclaims salvation.” We should step mindfully towards the world with the gospel of Christ in our journey with God.

The shield is invaluable as a defensive weapon. Ephesians verse 16 tells us that “above all take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” It is the most important piece of armor we possess in order to combat the enemy effectively. King David equates God Himself to a shield, as he found solace in His Presence. Psalm 18:2 tells us, “My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” And again in Psalm 91:4, “His truth shall be your shield and buckler.” Our shield of faith enables us to stand firmly without fear or worry concerning our destiny. We have but one thing to do, and that is to stand, therefore, and observe God’s sovereign action on our behalf. This is one piece of armor that needs to be “well worn” – pitted and dented from scores of lethal arrows repeatedly assaulting our person. The enemy of God’s children never ceases to war against us, and so we must keep our shield up, strong and steady.

The helmet was worn to protect the head from physical harm. We must wear our spiritual helmet and have “the mind of Christ” as we clash with the enemy. The mind is the battlefield where we must “cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5). I Thessalonians 5:8 declares we should, “put on…as a helmet the hope of salvation). As believers our salvation assures us of the hope we have in Him.

The sword is the first weapon mentioned in the Bible. Genesis 3:24 describes, “a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” Revelation 1:16 states, “He [Jesus] had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining it its strength.” In Hebrews 4:12, the Apostle Paul tells us, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The sword in our arsenal of weapons is razor-sharp and makes a clean, swift cut. God’s Word penetrates and stabs at the evil intended for our harm. It disarms the enemy with one quick blow, severing its demonic head. Our Lord Jesus always used the Word when speaking to satan. The gospels record the dialog in Matthew, Mark and Luke as Jesus repeated the phrase, “It is written…” Be sure to use your sword often and with deadly precision.

In II Corinthians 10:3-4 Paul writes, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” God’s arsenal of weapons is powerful and decisive. James says to, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Remember, it is God who goes before you in battle. “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17). Be sure your armor is effective. Inspect it often. Adjust it properly. Wear it always.

Do battle as unto the Lord, for He is your shield and your exceedingly great reward.

Footprints in the Mud: Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

24 Aug 2010

Nina

Beth Brubaker, Cooking, Decluttering your home, Editors and Staff, Footprints in the Mud, Homemaking, House cleaning, Personal Wellbeing, Simplify Life, The Home

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You might recall in March that I declared war on clutter. Honestly it was more of a fistfight, but my intentions were to declutter the house that month and never have to do so again. Hah!

I am a borderline hoarder, and what I originally thought was decluttered, wasn’t. In fact, everything was still a mess! Just a neater one.

Remember the tale of the tortoise and the hare? I can tell you that I am not a hare (perhaps a little hare-brained, but definitely not the fast-paced creature in the story), but more of a plodding-along reptile that can never seem to gather any real speed when it comes to things that don’t interest me- like cleaning.

Now it’s the middle of August, and I’m still working. My house is not a simple one-month project like I’d originally thought. But I do have some good news!

Thanks to the help of my kids (yes, I taught them to help clean, too), my arch nemesis, the kitchen, has been completely transformed into something I’m happy to cook in! Straightening up simply wasn’t working. The reason? There was just too much stuff to work with!

I love kitchen gadgets, and collect them on a regular basis (read: collect=hoard). Things were starting to pile up, and I was quickly running out of room in my tiny kitchen. No amount of ‘neatening up’ would work, and I was tired of tripping over things. My family was, too.

The little bit of counter space I had was cluttered, too, and things began to navigate to the stove top. Not good when you’re cooking almost every day! I became tired of moving things around to cook, and I wound up shifting things to the floor - then tripping over them.

Now you see why I call myself a borderline hoarder! ‘Borderline’ only because I decided to do something about it before it overwhelmed the entire house and turned into the next feature on that popular cable show, Hoarding.

The first thingsthing we did was remove everything off of the kitchen floor. This was no small feat, and soon the dining room bore the clutter removed from the kitchen. This was just to see how much stuff was on the floor, and how much space I had to play with in the kitchen. I had twice the space – and that wasn’t including any of the removable storage I had. That was emptied too – I was not only cleaning, I was decluttering as well. All of it made a pretty impressive pile in my dining room. One I could no longer ignore and shift around.

It took a total of three days to complete the process, but it was done at long last! The local thrift shop was bestowed with appliances I had yet to use (and probably wouldn’t have used in the next ten years), and the things that I use a few times a year are now in my storage spaces, the regular use items are sitting on my shelves within eyesight, and the clutter is completely off the floor. The only things there now are my trash can, a big bag of potatoes, and a serving tray we use for snacks for the kids when we have a movie night. The floor was swept, scrubbed, and mopped until it shone. It still amazes me just how nice this kitchen that I used to hate turned out.

The clutter on the counters (that didn’t go to the thrift store) was stored as well, and that left enough room to prepare a meal. Oh, I could do meal prep before, but now I had enough elbow room that I didn’t knock anything over!

I celebrated by cooking a huge pot of soup – large enough so I don’t have to cook for at least another day or two, just so I could finish clearing out and cleaning the rest of the first floor.

I went to bed exhausted each night, but greatly satisfied that we were finally making an impact. I never realized just how much it bothered me to come downstairs to a messy house. I smile when coming downstairs now, and not tripping over stuff feels really good!

Though things are still coming along slowly, they are coming along – at a nice steady pace. And that, my friends, really does win the race in the end!

Beth Brubaker is a staff writer for the Ruby for Women online ezine, and her blog, Footprints in the Mud, is the inspiration for her column in every issue of Ruby for Women.

Where are the Bread and Circuses?

24 Aug 2010

Nina

Christian Life, Commitment to Christ, Daily Inspiration, Devotions, Healthy Relationships, In Other Words, Simplify Life, Spiritual Growth

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“The littleness of Christians of this age results from the littleness of their consecration to Christ.”
C. H. Spurgeon
Samson Conquered, sermon from November 21, 1858

How does this observation make me feel? We’ve all seen it, experienced it, and often are guilty of it. It reminds us that when we are confronted with truth, we have a couple of options: we can make excuses and blame someone else, we can just ignore it and go about our daily business, or we can face it boldly, courageously and own our part of this reality and make a determination to address it. The problem is, that this is a reality that needs to be addressed every day, probably every hour and every minute of our lives, because we live in a world that bombards us with so many distractions that it is very difficult to stay focused. Even if you are truly committed to following Christ in every area of life.

We live in a part of the country that has numerous Amish communities nearby. Just a few houses down from us, there is a house that is a “summer cottage” for an Amish family. They come out to the cottage sometimes on a Friday and Saturday, set up their lawn games and picnic table in their front yard, go swimming and boating, and cook out on their charcoal grill. How do they get there, I wonder? I’ve never seen a horse and buggy out front or in the garage, and yet there they are, most weekends in the summer, wearing their distinctive “plain” garments, their windows thrown wide open even on the most oppressively hot days when I’ve got my AC running full blast. What’s up with that?

I don’t know, and it really doesn’t matter, except that I find it interesting and curious . . . . . because somehow, whether we agree with all of their theology or not, the Amish people have established a culture of being “separate” from modern society that allows them the peacefulness, the quiet, the structure and the routine that helps people devote themselves to their faith. I admire them for that. The Amish communities that I have observed express a deep, consistent, and enduring determination to live a life that expresses the “largeness” of their consecration to Christ. Of course, they are just people like the rest of us, with a variety of real-life struggles, relationship and parenting concerns, and community conflicts. But the overall approach to life that I’ve observed among the Amish people here in our area offers the kind of environment in which a person can more readily develop a life that is wholly devoted to God.

Now, the next question logically follows: Does one HAVE to live a life of complete separation from the modern world to achieve the kind of complete devotion and dedication to our faith that we are seeking here? And the answer, you know, is of course not. But there are definitely some advantages to living a life of simplicity, peacefulness, and order that provides more opportunities for achieving that goal. So how do we address the reality of the “littleness” of our consecration to Christ in the midst of a world that constantly is screaming at us? How can we escape the incessant noise that surrounds us, calling us to this distraction and that excitement, telling us that we “deserve” to be entertained every hour of every day?

Perhaps it is a choice. When we look at ancient history, there was a culture that had become the greatest in all of humanity to that time. And yet, that culture was destroyed from the inside, not by the barbarians clamouring at their borders . . . . when they had become convinced that they had a “right” to their “bread and circuses.” Just entertain us and feed us. Maybe we DO need to take a look at our consecration to Christ; at our determination to become people of honor, justice, devotion and commitment to becoming all that God would have us be. Sometimes I wonder if we might have to follow the example of the Amish communities, just so we can find a place where it is quiet enough to think about all of this!

Please visit Miriam Pauline’s blog today, Miriam Pauline’s Monologue, to find the links to the other blogs of this week’s IOW participants. And, of course, leave a link back to YOUR blog so we can come and visit you! Have a great Tuesday ;o)

David is What Gossip Magazines are All About! by Christelle of Beloved Mama

23 Aug 2010

Nina

Christelle "Beloved Mama", Christian Life, Daily Inspiration, Devotions, For Us Women, God's Grace, Spiritual Growth

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OMW reports that King David has shacked up with the beautiful Bathsheba-
who is still married to one of David’s most loyal soldiers.
OKay Magazine now reports that Bathsheba is prego with David’s child.
Anonymous sources state that David’s family is in turmoil- Son, Amnon was found putting the moves on his half sister, Tamar.
Other sources state that Tamar’s oldest brother, Absalom has a hit out on Amnon.

David’s first wife, Michal, has been heard saying that David is ultimately to blame for not keeping a stern hand… but let’s not forget that Michal might still be bitter after being banned from the kingdom…
Peeps Magazine states that the death of Uriah, Bathsheba’s 1st husband, may not have been an accident… In fact, there are those who believe that there was a hit out on his life.

Do you have any idea how glad I am that David’s life story is in the Bible?
Every time I feel like I am the worst Christian in the world,
or when I feel like people are listening to OTHERS about me,
rather than get to know my heart for themselves,
I remind myself that
David’s entire life story is… right THERE…
for ALL to see…
and the bottom line is that HE loved the Lord his God with all his heart, soul and mind…
and what’s even more amazing-
He wasn’t even a Christian!
So for those of us who are disenfranchised by the term Christian-
David shows us that his love for the Lord is what mattered…
GRACE is what’s important-
I don’t have to be perfect nor be bound by the laws of religion!
David was a man after God’s own heart…
because his heart belonged to God…
THAT’s what matters most!

Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, Love your neighbor as yourself…
When this is my priority, everything else in my life falls into it’s proper place.

*Post taken from Christelle’s primary blog, Beloved Mama.

The Old Gold Miner

21 Aug 2010

Nina

Christian Life, Daily Inspiration, Devotions, Editors and Staff, Lynn Mosher, Spiritual Growth

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One day, as I was bewailing a difficult circumstance in my life, the Lord gave me this vision of His working in my life…

With shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows, an old gold miner knelt beside a sparkling stream of water, bubbling with life. His weather-beaten hands clutched a sizable sieve like those used years ago for panning gold. On it rested a massive amount of dirt and rocks of all sizes, shapes, and hardness.

Undaunted, he knelt there, concentrating on the debris. Shaking the sieve with vigor, then again with tenderness, he continued his apparent mission, as if on a treasure hunt for some mysterious element. The dirt and smaller pebbles slipped through the holes in the screen, disappearing downstream into waters that appeared to have a life of their own. The remaining larger, coarse rocks on the screen grated against each other, altering their appearance.

Tears began to trickle down his furrowed cheeks and fall upon the transformed rocks, washing away the leftover traces of dirt. An all-knowing smile gradually spread across his aged face. His eyes twinkled, reflecting the anticipated precious treasure, the golden gems now resting on the sieve.

He glanced up and whispered, “My Word is the screen sifting out all the impurities of your life, while the Living Waters wash them away. In My love for you, I am ever at work in your circumstances. As they rub against you, they transform you and rid you of those things that would dirty your life and taint your work for Me. As I remove them, you are made into that precious, golden gem, reflected in My eyes.”

Through this vision, the Lord showed me that, no matter what circumstances occur in my life, no matter how relentlessly they rub against me, He allows them all to be sifted through His Word, His love, and His fingers, changing me into His image and that golden reflection in His eyes.

“This means tremendous joy to you, even though at present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This is no accident – it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold…” (1 Peter 1:6-7a Phillips)

~~Blessings, Lynn~~