Gullible

Hello Everyone!!

Have any of you seen the thing that has been going around? It is now a proven fact! If you say oranges really slowly it sounds like gullible. (You may have to say it a few times!)


OK, so I'm pretty sure that I said it about five times before I got it! But it might be that I am just very gullible person. I am always wanting to believe the best in others and not to judge them, which can be a good or bad thing, because at times it may not be the truth. But how do you do you know when you need to judge or not? I will try to answer that question as well as I can.

Well, I looked it up in the bible and found five verses that I thought were pretty relevant.

Psalms 43:3
Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
Let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your tabernacle.

Psalms 25:4-5
Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
⁵ Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.

Psalms 51:6
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

John 8:31-32
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

James 1:5-6
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

So if you lack wisdom, or judgment (like me) " let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him"

So, I know I am hitting on a lot of topics, but I just have one more that I think is very important.

First I want to share a verse!
2 Timothy 3: 1-7
"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!"

It is crazy to me how specific these are, yet how many people I know that have these exact issues! I mean, how many people do you know are disrespectful to their authority's/parents (proud, disobedient to parents, headstrong, haughty,), or people who spend all their time of Facebook (slanderers, without self-control) or video games. (lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, brutal, despisers of good,) Another thing that is very important to acknowledge is that if you love something (or someone) more than God, you are sinning. It (or they) are an idol that needs to be removed, even if it is not a "bad" thing in the first place.


And continued:


"For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. " (NKJV)

Again, the woman reminded me of the "Feminist" woman now days. Not by the fact that she was gullible, but that she "Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." A woman is given so many gifts, yet many of them throw them away. I mean a woman is given the gift of protection, and guidance, whether it is from her dad or her husband; yet so many women are "fighting" for "independence and freedom." I believe God made women with a more trusting and submissive mind, heart and judgment, and that is a gift. But that is because it is to be protected my Men. Not because they are any less than a man, but because they are have a different part to play.


Thank you for reading and God Bless,
Gracie

Tune My Heart

"Come thou Fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace"

This is the line of a very famous hymn. I'm sure you've heard it and probably sung it. Did you realize what you were singing?

We are the instrument, God is the musician. Our life is a constant song that our heart sings. Sometimes the music is straight from God full of His holiness and grace, but sometimes our heart gets out of tune, and the beautiful song is ruined by sour notes.

Maybe you've heard an untuned instrument, or a person who can't carry a melody in a bucket. That's what God hears when our hearts get all out of whack. That's when it's time for a tune up.

The lyrics of this hymn are a prayer to God, asking Him to tune our hearts. Think about it, have you ever tuned an instrument? Tuning usually means adjusting tensions in the strings by turning knobs and applying pressure. Not fun, definitely not fun.....but necessary.

God will adjust things in our lives to tune our heart so our life's song is exactly how He wants it. The melody, pitch and harmony are completely in balance, and the theme of our song is grace and the Grace Giver.

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Ephesians 5:19 KJV

The Ever-Loving Truth

Can Faith Thrive In A Post-Christian Culture?

I first heard Voddie Baucham speak at a homeschool convention a few years ago. He is a wonderful preacher/teacher and our family decided to buy some of his books. I have benefited from some of his other books over the last year or two but never read "The Ever-Loving Truth." Recently I finished it, and here is what I thought of it.

The book is filled with information on a lot of topics which most people avoid. He breaks his book down into three different parts.

In the first part of the book he talks about Pre-Christian Attitudes in a Post-Christian Culture. In this part he sets the stage on what we are up against and gives some good examples on it. He also talks about how people in America hate to hear about God.

The second part of the book is called "Drawing a Line in the Sand." Basically he talks about what a joy we should have in sharing the gospel, and how we should go about it.

The third, and last, part of the book is called "What Shall We Say?" And he goes into a lot of apologetics on how we should share our faith.

Wonderful book that I really enjoyed reading and learning from. I recommend this book.

Matthew

Chicken in the Woods

There is a story behind this sweet chicken. Several weeks ago we were coming back home from dropping something off and stopped to get the mail. I suddenly saw this chicken in the woods across the street and went over with my brother to find her. She was relatively friendly so we caught her and put her in a cage. I thought about possible owners and came to the conclusion that she probably belongs to a man farther up in our subdivision. He didn't answer his phone so I went up and asked him if it was his. He told me it was his but he did not want them anymore so I could go ahead and keep her.

This story's beginning sounds like what the Lord did for us, doesn't it? My sweet little girl was out in the woods with tons of predators surrounding her and ready to close in as soon as night fell.

But she was rescued from that fate!

Romans 3:23 says:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

She had no reason to be saved, she had no hope. So much like us, we were lost and in need of someone to protect us and help us. Ephesians 2:8-9 states:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

There was no one else to rescue her out in the woods. The closest neighbors wouldn't have cared. We read in Acts 4:10 that:

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

No one cared about her. Just like us, the world doesn't want us nor does it care about us. Jesus Christ came because He loves us and cares for us! He will not let us die if we only lean on Him and trust Him with our lives. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says:

"...For He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation."

I am sure we all can quote John 3:16 by memory, but read it carefully once more.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

God loves you enough to send His Son to save us! That is a magnificent gift. Just like the chicken in the woods, we are helpless and in need of a Savior. Just like the owner of the chicken did not want her, the world will dump us out. Only Jesus truly loves us. If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior you can do so right now.

ADMIT you're a sinner, that you need Christ as your savior, and that all those who call on the Lord Jesus and obey Him will be saved. You can't be saved without Him, nor add to or take from what Christ has done for you (Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23).

BELIEVE the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. You can know He is Who He says He is by the hundreds of prophecies that came true in His Life. Many things foretold hundreds of years before His birth came true in His lifetime, and others He Himself made came true later (Romans 10:9, 10:10).

CONFESS to the Lord and admit to yourself that you have responsibilities and that you have commitments as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. The more you know about the Lord Jesus Christ, the more you'll want to tell other people about Him (Romans 10:13, 11:36, John 1:1).

(Thanks to the Baptist Page for their resources)

If you have prayed and asked Jesus into your heart, the Dedicated Christians would love to celebrate with you! So please email us at dedicatedchristians@gmail.com.

Matthew

The Well

I have to say that I was a little disappointed with Mark Hall after reading his newly released book, The Well. After reading one of his other books and listening to the album, "Come To The Well," I was excited about reading this book and soaking up his knowledge of the Bible like I have before, but that isn't what happened.

But I did learn from the book. The whole book is based on the story of the woman at the well. He talks about how we draw from our own wells instead of the Lord's wells. He talks about the holes (wells) of approval, control, religion, talent, and a lot of others. He goes into these and talks about how they get ahead of Jesus.

My complaint with the book was that it was not very deep. He was a little flippant when he re-quoted Bible stories in his own words. He used modern day language which (in my opinion) was not very reverent.

All in all, a good book. I did learn from it but it did not teach me as much as a lot of other books I have read.

Matthew

Leading the Blind

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

Out of all the promises in the Bible this one rings true for me.  If I think about it hard it almost brings me to tears because of the comfort and strength I find in this one verse. 

I am legally blind, and in this world where everything is fast paced, going by in a blur, sometimes I feel alone and afraid.  There are so many unknowns.  I don't like the unknown, I can be content just staying home, on my farm, in my comfort zone.  But I know that isn't what God wants for me and the last year of my life has been a time of God leading me on paths that I hadn't forseen.   But He is faithful, he won't just ditch me in a new place.  He makes the darkness, light, before my feet and makes the crooked path passable.  With this promise in my heart I can step blindly, yet boldly out into the unknown and joyfully confront uncertainty.  

He promises to do this with all His children, not just those of us who are physically blind.  If you are blind to a situation, blind to God's plan, unable to clearly see spiritually, you fit into this verse.  God promises that even if you have absolutely no idea what you are doing or where you are going, He will be there and guide you ever step of the way.  If you step out in faith, the path will not only be revealed to you, but the road will be made straight.  

I cling to this promise as I'm stumbling through the dark of this life, and believe me, it is better to be blind and have God guide you, then to have vision and choose your own way.          

Give-a-Way Winner!!

And the winner of the Mercy Me CD is The Director! :-)

Congratulations!

Hope you enjoy this CD!

God bless,

Dedicated Christians Team

Give-A-Way

Today is the last day to enter the Give-A-Way for the FREE MERCY ME CD!!!

So far there is 10 entries! :-)

Click the link below to enter! God bless!!

http://dedicatedchristians.blogspot.com/2012/02/give-way.html

Be of Good Courage!

Sometimes life gets discouraging. I make so many mistakes, and not just once, but over and over again! Those amazing patriarchs in the Bible are just so.... close to perfect- at first glance. But really, they are like the rest of us. Even they had problems- they were all sinners.

The greatest prophet of the Old Testament, Moses, wasn't allowed to see the Promised Land because he did not hallow God's name in front of the Israelites.

Abraham, the father of many nations, lied, instead of trusting the Lord, that his wife was his sister- twice. He also didn't completely trust that the Lord would give him a son, since he was willing to have a son by his wife's servant.

David, the writer of the beautiful Psalms, lusted, committed adultery, and then had a man murdered, so that his sin would not be found out.

But we read that Abraham was the friend of God (James 2:23) the Lord knew Moses face to face (Deuteronomy 34:10) and David was a man after God's own heart! (Acts 13:22)
Wow! I want to be a friend of God, know the Lord face to face, and be a woman after God's own heart!

Abraham, Moses, and David are role models for us because of their faith in the Lord.
Don't be discouraged! Keep trusting that the Lord will perfect that which concerns you; for His mercy endures forever, and He will not forsake the works of His hands! (Psalm 138:8)

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

May God bless you this week! =)

Allison

The Living and Piercing Word

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. Hebrews 4:12 NKJ

Being the sword fanatic that I am, I have always latched onto the part in the verse about the Word of God being sharper than a sword. Recently I read it and felt like I saw the rest of the verse for the first time.

For starters, read the beginning of the verse. It says the Bible is alive and powerful, it’s not just a centuries old history book that isn’t relevant to the world today. And it's not just words on a page, dead and silent. I love books, but I have never found one that was actually living…until now. I don't even know how a book can be alive! I can't understand it, but it makes me really excited.

As I continued to read the verse I got to my favorite part about the sword. I always thought the Bible was used as a sword to fight the enemy. While this is definitely true, God’s Word is also a sword in the sense that it can convict us. If you have read a verse that was painfully convicting and relate able, you understand that the Bible can pierce through your soul and spirit. The Word is more like a scalpel at that point. A scalpel that God is using to preform heart surgery in areas of your life that need to be altered or removed.

Read the Bible, use it to battle the enemy, but be ready to take the knife to your own heart when God convicts you through His living, breathing Word.

The Lord....Full of Mercy

This is something I typed up the other day. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 51. It's the prayer of my life and it has meant to a lot to me over my faith.

"When I fall away from the Lord, He always seems to find me again. When I fail Him, He always finds a place in His abundant mercy to forgive me. When I cry, He lifts my head up. When I am ashamed, He comforts me. When I am happy, He laughs with me. And when I need someone to talk to, He is always there, to listen and to answer." -Josiah Blanchard

I thought I would just type out Psalm 51, not only so you could read it, but so that I could see this chapter on my blog as well.

Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindess;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned,

And done this evil in Your sight --

That You may be found just when You speak

And blameless when You judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,

And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear joy and gladness,

That the bones You have broken may rejoice.

Hide Your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence,

And do not take You Holy Spirit from em.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinner shall be converted to You.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

The God of my salvation,

And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,

And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;

You do not delight in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and contrite heart --

These, O God, You will not despise.

Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;

Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Then You shall be please with the sacrifices of righteousness,

With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;

Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully this chapter can also help you when you fell away from your Faith with Jesus, or are struggling to keep Him in your life.

God bless,

Josiah

Take up the Cross and Follow Him

Something I was reading in my Bible the other day, that "stuck-out" to me, was Matthew 16:24-27.

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.'"

I have to deny myself and give up the lusts of the flesh, and follow Jesus. Another verse I was reading yesterday, was all about how the Holy Spirit and the lusts of the flesh are against each other. I can't have both of them at the same time, just as I can't have the Savior and sin inside of me. Below are the verses I am referring too.

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Galatians 5:16-18

Now I loved this part. My whole life I have struggled through my flesh. I have prayed that the Lord would give me the Holy Spirit, however, I have never gotten an answer. Well, one that I liked anyway. The Holy Spirit cannot be inside of me, if I let my flesh rule my life. Thus, I have to deny myself and my flesh and give myself wholly unto Christ.

If you keep reading in Galatians, 5:19-26, explain more about what the works of the flesh are, and what the works of the Spirit are. They are completely different and have given me knowledge and some comfort in knowing what I must work on to gain this works of the Spirit, and lose those of the flesh.

"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornications, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in time past, that those who practice such things will NOT inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." 

I loved this part, and my parents are always reminding me to keep the fruits of the Spirit. It's a great reminder, and hopefully the Lord will help me when it comes to this area. I need to work on keeping the fruits of the Spirit, and not those of the flesh.

Thanks for reading,
Josiah

Give-a-Way!!!

Hello Everyone!

Recently I went to a Christian - Rock and Worship - Roadshow. :-)
I also got a free Mercy Me music CD! I would love to share with you so I'm posting this as a give-a-way!

Here is how it works:

Write 1 comment for each entry. The different types of entries will be described below. Make sure you write a DIFFERENT comment for each entry to increase your chances of winning! The winner will be randomly picked using a website to filter through all the comments, randomly picking a number.

How to enter:

1. Follow the blog
2. Share your favorite Bible verse and explain why it is your favorite
3. Share the Give-a-Way with your friends by Facebook or Google + (Please provide the link in the comment to your post)
4. Post about the Give-a-Way on your blog!
5. Have a friend refer you to why they followed our blog.

(NOTE: You need to provide a way to contact you in at least one of the comments you write.)

Hope that makes sense. These entries do not have to be in order, however you DO need to follow the blog to be able to enter.

If you share the give-a-way on your blog or social networking site, just make sure you tell your friends to tell me that you were the one that shared the give-a-way, you'll receive an extra entry for that comment as well.

All comments should be separate, to increase your chances of winning.

The Give-A-Way will end on Friday (10th) so that everyone has a chance of sharing it with their friends and getting more entries.

Thanks a ton!
God bless,
Josiah

Knighthood, Yeah Right

I think something we have lost sight of in modern day Christianity is the fact that we are called by God to fight like warriors. That is why I take the concept of knighthood and chivalry, very seriously. When I talk to fellow Christians about being a knight, I usually get a response like, "Yeah, right, uh huh, I think you've been watching too much Lord of the Rings Victoria". When I was young, I just liked swords, I thought it was really cool. Now I know it is more than cool. It is a duty we have in Christ that is not to be taken lightly. Fighting the forces of darkness is a dangerous task and most often our worst enemy is ourselves.  The stakes are high, and we can't battle alone, only in Christ's strength are we more than conquerors. Now, as young people, we need to be cultivating the mindset of a knight, whether you are a guy or a girl. Honor, courage, self control, emotional, physical, and mental strength, these are all things that a true knight needs to have. And most importantly, we need to have a heart for our King, we must know His truth, and use our sword in His strength and for His glory. 

I urge you to take your position seriously. Carry yourself as a knight, not in pride, but in humility and steadfastness, caring for others before yourself and serving your King with honor.

-Victoria

Finally, my brethren, 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. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:10-17 KJV