Observation: Luke 43-45

"He that doeth righteousness is righteous--life is the outcome of character; that as men are so they will live."
 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good," granted that a man is sound at heart, it is certain that he will spend a good life, that he will shrink from the veil and pursue and practice the holy thing. If a man is radically corrupt, it is certain that his life will be unworthy and sinful. Character must come form into conduct, behaviour is the manifest action of the secret spring which is within the soul." Every tree is known by his fruit" men must form their judgment about us, and they must judge us y the lives they witness. If, therefore, we don't manifest a Christan temper and a loving spirit, if righteous principles are no visible in our daily dealing, and we don't give evidence of caring more for truth and for God and of the establishment of his Holy Kingdom on the earth--we must not complain if men count us a ungodly--our godliness, our spirituality, everything out to shine out clearly and unmistakably from our daily life.

Romans 12:4-6 thought

The illustration of the body with its members to set forth the mutual dependence on each other of the several members of the Church with their several gifts and functions, and the importance of all for the well-being of the whole. Christ is regarded somewhat differently, as the exalted Head over the Church, which is his body. the references to gifts means that various members of the body have various capacities as Christians. So we have diversity in Christ's church--varied methods and functions--but they all carry a unity of Spirit of faith and love in Christ and obedience to Hid Divine Word.

Ephesians 2:18-20 thoughts

Further illustration of identity of position of Jews and Gentile, and of the work of Christ in bringing it about. Our access to the Father is assumed as a matter of spiritual experience; the converted Ephesians knew that in their prayers and other exercises they felt they really stood before God. This came to pass through Christ; God has made peace through the blood of the cross. There is no longer a restriction upon our access to God "we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him." Gentiles are no loner strangers, but members of the household of God. They have been born again, and have become Children of God by faith. This positions ought to make us jealous for our Father's honour, loving in all our relations the members of God's household.

vs. 20: we have an image of Christian as stones by a temple. The foundations was built by New Testament officers--apostles and Prophets in a new dispensation, with Christ the chief cornerstone, determining the lines of the whole building Jesus if THE Origin, Foundation, Support of the Church, but he gives it its shape and form, he determines the place and office of each stone, he gives life and character to each member.

Revelations 3:20 discussion

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (KJV)

Christ's rebuke and call to repentance are here characterized in terms of the risen Lord seeking admittance into the believer's heart and life

-The church at Laodicea has shut Christ out by allowing their ears to grow dull and their hearts wax so hat that they are insensible to his world. Despite their spiritual sleep and slumber, Christ stands without, entreating the believer to yield room to the Lord.

-The image here is that Christ seeking communion and table fellowship with the estranged believer and the church. TO sup together is an expression of mutual affection. The fellowship meal was an important part of the early Church's weekly assembly (Lord's supper). In the gospels, Christ use the image of table fellowship to portray the Kind and his knights and nobles about his table supping and administering the kingdom together. .

My Thoughts on I John chap.2 verses

vs. 1: address those who are walking in the light and yet sin through frailty. to walk in light we must confess our sin if we sin, we have a righteous Advocate, who is Jesus.

vs. 2: Christ is an offering rather than the one who offers. Our sins are the subject matter of his propitiatory work. The propitiation is for all, not for the 1st band of believers only. No man--Christian, Jew Gentile--is outside the mercy of God--unless he places himself there deliberately, "loving darkness rather than light."

vs. 3: walking in light involves obedience

vs. 4: "Knowing him" really is having fellowship with him-just as not keeping his commandments is the same as walking in darkness

vs. 5: "His Word" referring to "his doctrine"--from vs 4 we see that really knowing God involves loving him--that what really matters is our love of God rather than God's love for us. Knowing God implies keeping his Word and keeping his word involves loving him, and being in him and have that fellowship with him and his Son in which the Christian's life consists.

vs.6: Christianity is a habitual condition. Obedience, not feeling, is the test of union, and the Christian who is really such has least to tell of "experiences" of such visitations. He who is ever in the light has few sensible illuminations to record: nothing less than the "measure of the structure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13) is to be aimed at. "Ye therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

vs.7: verses 7-28 talk about (mostly) what walking in the light excludes--things to avoid--Antichrists. vs. 7 and 8 are simply an intro

vs. 8: the real, perfect, the very light--Christ is the perfect light as he is the perfect bread and perfect vine

vs. 9-11: walking in the light excludes all hatred towards brethren, for such hatred is a form of darkness. "hate" is not to be watered down into "neglect" or "fail to love." Love is love, and hate is hate, and between the two there is no neutral ground, anymore than between life and death. "He that is not with me is against me." "Love is the moral counterpart of intellectual light."

vs. 12: John is apparently writing to those who have had their sins washed away in the blood of Christ, therefore he writes this Epistle

vs. 13-14: old and young men referring to age as Christians--mature Christians

vs. 15: "the world" meaning the sinful elements of human life--which is all that is alienated from God. St. John is not condemning a love of those material advantages which are God's gifts, nor of nature, which is God's work. He's forbidding those things the love of which rivals and excludes the love of God. "You cannot serve God and mammon."

vs. 16: not talking about loving material objects--but not loving evil dispositions and aims of men--lust of flesh, lust of the eyes (curiosity, covetousness), pride of life--the empty pride in fashion and display. It includes the desire to outshine our neighbors.

vs. 17: If a Christian live, he lives to the Lord; if he dies, he dies to the Lord. If he toils, he does God's will. If he suffers, he bears it. If he be on earth, he fulfills his Father's will in his life--"he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

vs.18: the "last time" here refers to the end of a world as was known in John's time--(Rome would fall), Because why would an inspired writer tell the Church that the "last time" was here, if it was not there? I believe this refers to the terrible persecution under Nero (Anti-Christ), and the fall of Jerusalem.

vs. 19: speaking of people who had abandoned the Christian faith, so they wouldn't be persecuted

vs. 20-22: so an Antichrist denies the Messiahship of Christ and both Father and Son virtually (see II Thess. 2:4) because..

vs. 23: to deny Jesus as Christ is to deny the Son of God--and to deny the Son of God is to deny the Father also, for "no one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him."

vs. 24: let good seed abide in your heart and not be snatched away by evil. Then not only will it abide, but you also will abide in the Son and therefore with the Father.

Headcovering in Asia

An itinerant Taoist wears a small traditional head covering called a “pagoda,” which is a small oriental imitation of a temple or sacred building. During the fall and winter, Taoists will wear a protective hat or head covering. Why? This is not only because of the Taoist religion, but also have some relations with health preserving. According to Taoists, the head is one of the most important parts of the body, and they believe the hat is a protection to their head.

According to F. Roy Willis of the University of California—women (and probably men) of ancient Sumerian civilization (around 2500 B.C.) wore head coverings of wool and leather—Sumerian priests, however, would not wear any head gear (and would go bald) as a desire to be regarded as humble, as many serious Buddhist monks and nuns do today.

Chinese Buddhist monks and nun will, however, cover their heads for certain ritual/ceremonial purposes and for warmth. There are different types of the hats they wear depending on their status and the occasion.

Shinto priests of Japan wear various forms of headgear (eboshi) depending on their hierarchical rank. The “kammuri” hat is worn only by the highest-ranking priests. It is the same type of hat worn by emperors, court nobles, shogun, and daimyo (feudal lords) of pre-modern Japan.

Iceland

 

Iceland only has 320,000 people living in it. It is a beautiful country , with a rich Norse heritage.

A translation of the Bible was published in the 16th century. Important compositions since the 15th to the 19th century include sacred verse, most famously the Passion Hymns of Hallgrímur Pétursson, and rímur, rhyming epic poems. Originating in the 14th century, rímur were popular into the 19th century, when the development of new literary forms was provoked by the influential, National-Romantic writer Jónas Hallgrímsson. In recent times, Iceland has produced many great writers, the best-known of which is arguably Halldór Laxness who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955. Steinn Steinarr was an influential modernist poet.

Iceland has also been called the land of the elves.

Why was the veil lost?

 

Why was the veil lost?

The veil lost meaning with many, and fell out of fashion. I believe those that continued to try and wear the veil felt discouraged, and under attack by other persons who felt challenged by their action, and they therefore dropped the practice. This God-ordained headship order is looked upon with distain and discontent by many today. Many men have neglected or abused their authority; while many women say they feel degraded and deprived.

"Liberated" woman have exchanged their position of honor, as given by God, for a position of “independent equality,” – wrongly thinking that equality is something more than God’s perfect plan. In exchange for a few new freedoms, they sacrifice their place of protection under man's authority. This attitude of independence is cautioned against in verses 11 and 12 of 1 Corinthians 11. God desires men and women to be dependent on each other, man needs woman, and woman needs man.

By God's grace, a leading, providing husband and a submissive, supportive wife become building blocks for a stable, happy family. Stable families, in turn, build solid, caring churches and a healthy society.

Conversely, as men neglect their leadership, and women spurn that authority, the family begins to deteriorate and our society experiences repercussive social ills. Men and women become bound by the freedoms they sought, and children suffer immeasurably.

Should Christian women wear head coverings today?

We need to examine the Bible to answer such a question. Please read I Corinthians 11:1-16. First we must ask ourselves, “What did I Corinthians 11:1-16 command its original readers to do?” It instructed women to place a piece of cloth or fabric (a.k.a. head covering or veil) upon their heads when praying or prophesying. The size, shape, and color of the head covering is not specified. It is designed to cover the head (vv. 5, 6, 10) and has a function similar to that of hair (vv. 14-15) (although hair, after the fall of man, no longer fulfilled the original purpose as a headcoverning).

This passage also instructed men to pray with their heads uncovered. Men should not pray or prophesy with hats, prayer shawls, skull caps, or any other object that covers their head. The code of good manners in North America still reflects this tradition, which is why men remove their hats for prayer at sporting events, graduation ceremonies, etc.

When should women cover their heads and men not cover their heads?

Paul instructs women to wear a head covering whenever they pray or prophesy (vs. 5). Similarly, men are instructed to keep their heads uncovered when praying or prophesying (vs. 4). At a minimum, this means women should have their heads covered (and men uncovered) when the congregation is gathered for prayer, edification, and worship.

Some Christians point to the second half of 1 Corinthians 11 (which deals with the Lord’s Supper) and argue that the context for both instructions seems to be formal public gatherings of the Body of Christ. Accordingly, these Christians conclude that the instructions in 1 Corinthians 1:1-16 are applicable only in public meetings of the church. This seems a reasonable position, however, women pray throughout the day and in many locations. Women often speak God’s Word to children and friends outside of church settings. 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 does not specify a situation that only occurs in public church meetings. This is a reasonable and defensible position. Both Old Testament Hebrew women and Christian women, throughout church history, wore head coverings all the time, and not at worship services only. For these reasons, we may conclude that women should indeed wear head coverings always, and not only in church meetings.

Doesn’t a woman’s long hair qualify as a head covering?

No. This argument is ridiculous: firstly because the Bible is referring to a piece of cloth or fabric when it commands women to wear head coverings (and commands men not to do so). According to Dr. Robert Spinney, it wasn’t until the beginning of the late nineteenth century, that some argued (based on verse 15b) that Paul is instructing women to have long hair and that the so-called head covering is nothing more than long hair. If this “long hair equals head covering” interpretation is true, then we should be able to substitute the phrase long hair for the word covering in this passage and retain the passage’s meaning. For example, if covering means “long hair,” then vs. 6 would mean that the women who do not wear long hair (but only shorn) should have their hair shorn, which doesn’t even make sense, because it is already so. Likewise, vs. 4 would mean that men should go bald all the time! – I don’t think so, do you?

This is why the Greek word used in verse 15 for the covering of a woman’s hair (peribolaion) is different from the Greek word used in verses 6 and 7 for the covering of cloth (katakalupto, which is derived from kalumma, a word that means “a covering, a hood, or veil”). The two Greek words are not interchangeable.

When Paul says in verse 15b that a woman’s long hair is given her as a covering, he is not defining the nature of the covering. By the time he reaches verse 15, the inspired apostle has already presented his argument at length. His readers know what he is talking about, viz. a piece of cloth called a head covering or veil. He is now bringing to bear additional considerations for his listeners to weigh. One such consideration is how our innate sensibilities tell us that women’s heads ought to appear different than men’s heads. Our own natural sensibilities, says Paul, tell us that women’s heads should be more covered than men’s. This is what Paul means by his reference to hair in verse 15b.

It is only in the past century that some commentators have attempted to make this “hair equals head covering” argument. Whether we look at Hebrew women in the Old Testament or Christian women through the ages (and in a variety of different cultures), God’s people have always understood that the head covering is a piece of cloth or clothing worn upon the head and not merely a woman’s long hair.

Is the veil a just commandment for the Corinthians due to their culture, and therefore not applicable today?

Probably the more common explanation of this passage is that it is merely a cultural commandment. (It is amazing how far people will go out of their way to avoid the head covering.) According to this view, the passage is understood as a culture-specific response to a prostitute problem in 60 A.D. Corinth; female prostitutes were easily identified by their uncovered heads, unlike virtuous Corinthians women (or so the explanation goes), prostitutes did not cover their heads. Therefore Paul is telling the Christian women to head cover because it is wrong to go around looking like a prostitute.

According to this view, if this passage was just for a Corinthian problem in 60 A.D., then there is no need for Americans, or any modern culture to wear it today.

I certainly agree that it is not good for Christian women to look like prostitutes, nor do I disagree that Corinth had a prostitution problem. However, there is no indication in I Corinthians 11:1-16 that this instruction is given because of a bare-headed prostitute problem. There is no suggestion in this passage that cultural factors in Corinth prompted this instruction. Nor is there any indication that this commandment is only for Corinthians Christians in their specific cultural setting.

If anything, this is a commandment for all time and for all peoples. Paul doesn’t just tell the women to wear the head covering; he tells them why women should cover their heads. Each of the reasons are timeless spiritual realities, not Corinthian cultural practices. By providing eternal truths for head coverings, the Bible makes it clear that wearing the head covering is applicable to all Christians at all times.

What is I am partially but not wholly persuaded?

What if I agree, but am not morally convicted in my conscience?

These words from R. C. Sproul, Sr. are helpful: “What if, after careful consideration of a Biblical mandate, we remain uncertain as to its character as principle or custom? If we must decide to treat it one way or the other but have no conclusive means to make the decision, what can we do? Here the biblical principle of humility can be helpful. The issue is simple. Would it be better to treat a possible custom as a principle and be guilty of being over scrupulous in our design to obey God? Or would it be better to treat a possible principle as a custom and be guilty of being unscrupulous in demoting a transcendent requirement of God to the level of a mere human convention? I hope the answer is obvious.” (Knowing Scripture, pp. 11-12)

Is there any basis for wearing the veil?

In Christianity, the Scriptural basis for this practice in I Corinthians 11:1-16. The headship veiling is a symbol of God's complete order of authority.

Men and women are different in many ways but divinely created with equal value (Galatians 3:26-28). Due to the differences between man and woman, and as a result of mankind's fall into sin, God has established an order of authority. Thereby lifestyles are simplified and differences are complemented. This beautiful order of authority, commonly called "headship order," is stated in 1 Corinthians 11:3. "But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." In this scripture head may also be interpreted authority. Christ is the Head, or authority, of mankind. Even though He holds this lofty position, and shares in the Godhead, Jesus Christ submits to the authority of God, His Father (John 8:16; 14:28; Mark 13: 31-33)

Similarly, men and women hold equally important positions; but God asks women to be submissive to the authority of men. Married women are under the authority of their husbands. Single women are under the authority of their fathers or church leaders.

Why should women submit and the men provide leadership?

The answer is two-fold. First, woman was originally created to be a "help-meet" for man. (Genesis 2:20-23) She was created from Adam's rib to be his companion, in the loving embrace of his protection and leadership. Woman was created as "the glory of man"; "of the man" and "for the man" (1 Corinthians 11:7, 8, 9)

Secondly, when Eve yielded to temptation, and enticed Adam to sin as well, God pronounced curses on the serpent, the woman and the man. Each had to bear the consequences of their sin (Genesis 3:14-19). Man, thereafter, needed to work hard to provide food for himself and his family. Woman, thereafter, was to be subject to her husband and experience sorrow in childbearing (Genesis 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:9-15; Ephesians 5:23-24).

Does that allow men to be tyrants?

Of course these scriptures, addressing the headship order, do not mean that husbands and fathers are to be tyrants, or rule over their wives and daughters in a disrespectful manner. Balanced with other scriptures (Ephesians 5:21, 25, 28; 1 Peter 3:7), men are taught to provide loving, non-oppressive leadership in the way that God intended.

It has been said that headship is not "lordship," but is rather a shouldering of responsibility. When a man shoulders his responsibility, it enables the woman to find security and gives her opportunity to reach her greatest potential.

What did the Church Fathers and Reformers think about the veil?

All the Church Fathers and Reformers agreed on one point: the headcovering mentioned in 1Co 11:4,5,6,7,10,13 was a fabric to be worn on the head by the women in worship. There may be differences among the theologians as to the application of the headcovering, but they are all consistently in agreement that Paul's reference to women being covered in worship was to a fabric headcovering, not to the hair of a woman. Below are some witnesses cited concerning the headcoverning – and who all are famous men in Church history.  

According to Tom Shank’s, “Let Her Be veiled”, the catacombs, which were used by the early Christians to assemble for worship, have many paintings that reveal the uniform dress of women in worship. The paintings show the women covering her head and hair (not the face) with some type of cloth.

Clement of Alexandria understood the words of the Corinthians passage to refer to a veil of fabric and not a woman’s hair; he said: "Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be entirely covered, unless she happens to be at home. For that style of dress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled." (The Instructor.)

Jerome (345-429 A.D.) said: "It is usual in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria for virgins and widows who have vowed themselves to God and have renounced the world and have trodden under foot its pleasures, to ask the mothers of their communities to cut their hair; not that afterwards they go about with heads uncovered in defiance of the apostles command."

St. Augustine, who lived in North Africa: “Every man praying or prophesying with veiled head shameth his head;' and, 'A man ought not to veil his head, for so much as he is the image and glory of God…Now if it is true of a man that he is not to veil his head, then the opposite is true of a woman, that she is to veil her head.”

In Europe, we know that Martin Luther’s wife, Katherine, wore a head covering. We also know John Knox (from Scotland), in his "The First Blast Of The Trumpet Against The Monstrous Regiment Of Women," (1505-1572) said: "First, I say, the woman in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey man, not to rule and command him. As saint Paule doth reason in these wordes: 'Man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. And man was created for the cause of the woman, but the woman for the cause of man; and therfore oght the woman to have a power upon her head,' (that is, a coverture in signe of subjection)."

John Calvin, from France (1509-1564), a theologian of the Reformation, preached three sermons on I Corinthians 11:2-16 and said: "So if women are thus permitted to have their heads uncovered and to show their hair, they will eventually be allowed to expose their entire breasts, and they will come to make their exhibitions as if it were a tavern show; they will become so brazen that modesty and shame will be no more; in short they will forget the duty of nature. . . . So, when it is permissible for the women to uncover their heads, one will say, 'Well, what harm in uncovering the stomach  also?' And then after that one will plead [for] something else: 'Now if the women go bareheaded, why not also [bare] this and [bare] that?' Then the men, for their part, will break loose too. In short, there will be no decency left, unless people contain themselves and respect what is proper and fitting, so as not to go headlong overboard.”

R.C. Sproul, an American theologian from our time, said: “The apostle makes the point that the veil, as a symbol of authority, is inconsistent with the position of the man, but it is required for women, who are subordinate to men. If they appear in the public assemblies with their heads uncovered, then they are acting in such a way that challenges the authority of men because they have removed the symbol that they are under masculine authority.

It is obvious from this comparison between men having their heads uncovered and women having their heads covered, that the covering is not hair. For if the covering in this context were hair, verse 6 would make no sense in the context of this passage.”

For a long time, nobody disputed the headcovering—regardless of where they lived—Europe, Mid-East, North Africa, or the Far East.

What is a veil?

A veil is an article of clothing, used almost exclusively by the woman, to cover the head or face. One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space. The actual socio-cultural, psychological, and socio-sexual functions of veils have not been studied extensively. These type of functions, however, most likely includes the maintenance of social distance and the communication of social status and cultural identity.

In Mesopotamia, the region centered in present-day Iraq near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, a veil was a rectangular piece of cloth woven of linen, wool, or cotton and worn by women to hide their faces from public view. While the veils worn by the wealthiest women could be beautiful, veils were not worn for fashionable reasons alone. Veils were one of the first legally enforced garments.

In the 13^th Century B.C., Assyrian law dictated that wives, daughters, and widows must wear a veil, but prostitutes and slave girls were forbidden to wear a veil. The veil thus served as a way of protecting a father or husband's interest in his daughter or wife. The alluring face of a married or marriageable woman could not tempt men from beneath a veil. Wives, daughters, and widows would be severely punished for not covering their faces in public. Those caught wearing their veil illegally could be flogged, have pitch poured on their heads, or their ears cut off. But punishments also extended to male observers. If a man recognized a prostitute or slave woman wearing a veil and did not report her to an authority, he could be publicly flogged, mutilated (having his hand chopped off, for example), his ears pierced and a cord run through them and tied behind his back, and “He shall do labor of the king for one full month.” In Ancient times, even to pagans, the veil was apparently a very serious piece of clothing.

Does anyone wear the veil anymore?

The answer is yes, the tradition of veiling continues into the twenty-first century in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The headcovering, at least during worship services, is still required in a few Protestant denominations and among the more traditional Catholics. Many of the Anabaptist denominations, like the Amish, some Mennonites, the Old German Baptist, and the Hutterites headcover. Many of the Apostolic and Pentecostal, the Plymouth Brethren, and many of the Dutch Reformed churches also headcover. The Muslim religion encourages the use of veils by women. Modern-day women who follow Islam customarily wear veils, and some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, have Muslim governments that enforce laws concerning women wearing veils.

For many centuries, until around 1175, Anglo-Saxon and then Anglo-Norman women, with the exception of young unmarried girls, wore veils that entirely covered their hair, and often their necks up to their chins. This type of veil is most commonly known as a wimple. Only in the Tudor period of England (begun in 1485), when hoods became increasingly popular, did veils of this type become less common.

In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam the concept of covering the head is or was associated with propriety. All traditional depictions of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ, show her veiled. Veiling was a common practice with church-going women until the 1960s, and a number of very traditional churches retain the custom. The wearing of various forms of the Muslim veil has provoked controversy in the West. In India, Hindu women veil for traditional purposes, it is custom in rural areas to veil in front of male elders. This veil is called the ghoonghat.

What does the veil mean?

For those in Islam, the women wear the veil (or hijab) for modesty and privacy. For the modern Western bride, it symbolizes virginity to others on her wedding day. To the catholic nun, it is for piety. To a Jewish woman, the veil (or tichel) is a symbol of marriage and devotion to her husband.

There are many reasons Christians wear the veil. To me, and I hope to other Christian women who still wear the veil, it is firstly a visible symbol of acceptance of God's order of authority. Secondly the veil is worn to both honor Christ and man. Thirdly, it is worn for protection that is referred to in I Corinthians 11:10. Though woman is created "the weaker vessel" (I Peter 3:7), and under the authority of man, her acceptance of God's headship order gives appropriate signals to the angels. Finally, for me, I wear the veil for personal reasons as well. The veil helps to remind me, and those around me, that I am a servant of Christ. In this way I am also protected from evil.

Thoughts from Ecclesiastes 5

Ecclesiastes five tells us how man's outward and secular life is unable to secure happiness and satisfaction--but can these be found in popular religion? The chapter lists out exercises of strict religious rules to be observed when serving God.

We must be careful of our conduct, to remember what we are about, and whither we are going.

When we are ignorant and without knowledge, it is better to be silent than to do any evil from our ignorance. Those who don't knwo how to worship God  heartily and propery, and thinging to please him with their formal acts of decotion, fall into a grievous sin.

We should weigh well our wishes, arrange them discreetly, ponder whether they are such as we can rightly make subjects of petition, before we lay them in words before the Lord. Let your words always be few in the presence of God, according as it is proper.

It is good to use the common blessings which God bestows with thankfulness and contentment. These temporal blessings are God's gifts, and aren't to be considered as the natural and assured result of man's own exertion. Man, indeed, must labor, but God giveth the increase. This calm enjoyments is allotted to man by God, and nothing more must be expected. These are gifts from God, a great and special bounty from a loving and gracious God. The man who has learned the lesson of calm enjoyment does not concern himself with the shortness, uncertainty, or possible trouble of life. And the man passes a calm and contented life, because God shows that he is pleased with him by the tranquil joy shed over his heart.

How Much Are We to Submit to Our Husbands?

Ephesians 5 provides insight into what Christ has done for the family. He has made of marriage the choice symbol of his own relation to the Church, and so family life is lifted into a Divine and spiritual light. The consideration of Christ for his people regulates the consideration husband should show to wife; and the loyalty of Christ's people to their Master indicates the loyalty the wife should show to her husband. Husbands and wives thus own to Christ the purification of their relations and the sanctification of the home!

If Paul would summon husbands up tot he heights of consecration by the example of Christ, he would also summon sizes up to a corresponding return of reverential devotion. The Church, in her love and obedience to Christ, is the pattern of wifely devotion. Now, this leads us to consider how Christ rules in his Christ. It is not an inconsiderate despotism, but an intelligent, considerate rule of love. His wishes are expressed with infinite tenderness. There is no fury in his commandments. The Church feels and find that they are not grievous. And so believers are loyal to the Lord from the heart. Noting is so delightful as to obey him. Suppose, the, that such a spirit characterized the wife's relations to her husband that she say in his every expressed wish the outcome of love, and obeyed him the the belief that obedience was her privilege as well as duty,--what Edenic homes men and women would posses on earth!

Though Christianity emancipates and elevates woman, it does not release her for the duty of subjection (compare I Peter 3:1-6). The relation to the husband is intensified in order to enforce the duty. Let there be a subjection in the case parallel to that in the other, for such is the Divine will and purpose. Any subjection due to the husband must be modified by what is due to God, for as the husband may not require for himself, so the wife may not require for himself, so the wife may not give to him, what is God's: God's will is paramount over all. Of the 3 wills that may be in collision, viz., God's, the husband's, and the wife's--the duty of the wife is to take them in this order, having regard first to God's, next to her husband's, and last to her own.

Marigolds

With blooms ranging from white to orange to burgundy, marigold brings bright color and ruffly shapes to the summer garden they are one of the most carefree annuals, performing well from seed or transplants in a warms, sunny spot and any well-drained soil.

Marigolds (India)

The compact signet marigold and the mid-size French types are suited to bed edgings and containers. The taller African marigolds are best for the back of the border or for a cutting garden.

African Marigolds

When planting different sold-color marigolds, mix in a few with bi-colored blooms to tie the scheme together.

Water marigolds often until they are well established, then water only weekly if rainfall is inadequate. Start pinching out blooms when they first appear to promote budding and a bushy shape. Deadhead and keep pinching until frost to keep marigolds flowering heavily. 

Start seems in-doors no more than four weeks before you want to set plants out. Otherwise the seedlings may become leggy. 

French and African marigolds are actually misnamed. Marigolds are native to the American Southwest and to Central and South America. In the 1500s, marigold seems were taken to Spain. Fro there, seeds were transported to France and parts of northern Africa, where the taller types eventually became naturalized.

Positive, Sef-Motivating Christians

Christians have desire. They are dissatisfied with the status quo. They want change for the better. There never was a Christian who didn't want to win for Christ. 
Scores of achieving people in every walk of life are all around us, yet few of us ever thing of the long and arduous process the led them step-by-step to their goals. Who for instance, would have though or remembered that Winston Churchill was a poor student.
They wanted something special for themselves--in spite of their past records. In spite of their bloodlines or their home lives--they wanted to win. Many Christians think that self motivation is an option. But EVERYTHING a person does--whether positive or negative, intentional or unintentional, is the result of motivation. Remember this:everyone is self-motivated, whether it be a little or a lot--positively or negatively.
Motivation is an extremely misunderstood and over promoted term. Then word, "Motive" is defined as that within he individual, rather than an outside influence, which incites the person to an action: an idea, need emotion, or organic state that promotes to action.
Motivation is a force which moves us to action, and it springs form inside the person. Defined as a strong tendency toward or away from an object or situation it can be learned or developed. It does not have to be in-born.
Things only will happen in a persons life if they ever want them to. Therefore, motivation is an emotional state. Two key emotions dominate human motivation with opposite, but equally effective results: fear and desire.
Fear is the most powerful negative motivator. Fear restricts, tightens, panics, forces, and ultimately scuttles plans and defeats goals.
Desire, however, is like a strong, positive magnet. It attracts, reaches, opens, directs, and encourages plans and achieves goals.
Fear and desire are poles apart, and lead to opposite destinies. Fear looks to the past--desire to the future.
Fear vividly replays haunting experiences of failure, pain, disappointing, or unpleasantness, and is a dogged reminder that them some experiences are likely to repeat themselves.
Desire triggers memories of pleasure and success, and excites the need to replay these and to create new winning experiences.
The consuming "prison" words of the fearful are likely to be "I have to," "I can't," "I see risk," and "I wish."
Desire says, "I want to," "I can," and "I will."
There is a disturbing philosophical movement today that associates drive and initiative solely with materialistic power and gain.
While there does appear to be a growing obsession focused on the accumulation of non-essential personal possessions, this should not be confused with personal achievement and the pursuit of individual excellence.
Disregarding all material rewards of high achievement, there is a pure personal pleasure which comes with achieving the difficult. The emotional spin-off that accompanies performance of the unusual or challenging personal test can range from a quiet flow of self-esteem to outright exhilaration, and is reason enough for the pursuit of excellence.
After decades of quest, we now know that high achieves have a high degree of self-motivation. The enduring power that moves them to action comes form inside themselves.
Success is NOT reserved for the talented. It is not in the high IQ. Not in the gifted birth. Not in the best equipment. Not even in ability.
Success is almost totally dependent upon drive, focus, and persistence. The extra energy required to make an extra effort--try another approach-concentrate on the desired outcome--is the secret of winning.
Out of desire--the energy and will to win.
"Make no little plans: they have no magic to stir your blood to action--make big plans, aim high in work and hope."
Get that urge to WIN!
There's no time to Lose.

For the Christian Daughter or Son

Honoring means going beyond what is expected, going out of your way to make the person you are honoring feel loved and appreciated. Love, love, respect, respect, forgive, forgive.

"Honor they father and mother..." (Deut. 5:6). The family is the germ of society, and the family is sustained only as the authority and rule of the heads of the household are upheld and respected. The command, then, to honor parents may be justly regarded as asserting the foundation of all social ordinances and arrangements. Where parents are not honored, a flaw lies at the basis, and the stability of the entire social fabric is endangered.

Many passages in the Word of God speak or refer to the duty of children to their parents. It is worthy of careful noting, that when God would launch  forth into the world a new national life, he lays great stress on the recognition of and regard to family sacredness. This is a moral code for the nation and the world for all time to be laid down in the list of the ten commandments: immediately after the honor of God there is the commandment, "Honor they father and they mother." Implicit obedience is a child's first duty.

The Christian Woman; I Peter 3:3,4

"They talk about a woman's spere

As though it had a limit.

There's not a plave in earth or heaven,

There's not a task to man given,

There's not a blessing or a woe,

Tere's not a whispered yes or not,

There's not a life, or death, or birth,

That has a feather's weith of worth,

Without a woman in it."

--20th Century Christian

Man has his specific work and woman has hers. God has made woman to be a helpmate to man.

WOMAN'S MISSION

"Woman's strong heart and gentle hand in God's eternal plan 

Where formed to soften, soothe, refine, exalt and comfort man,

And win from pleasure's poison cup to life's pure fount above

And rue him as the angels rule, by deeds of peace and love."

Sarah J. Hale

It is in this sphere of helping and being keepers at home where women find their blessings.

The success that a woman has in her work depends on what she is, and there are certain virtues that will be a crowning glory to every woman who adorns herself with them.

The first virtue she should seek it purity. It is the first virtue of good character. We are nothing without purity, only tinkling cymbals. There is no virtue, no spiritual like, no glory of soul not dignity of character without purity. Luther said, "It is not he who sings so well so many psalms, not he who fasts or watches so many days, nor he who divides his own among the poor, not he who lives quietly, kindly and friendly; but it is e alone ho is pure within and without." Women must hold onto virtue as to a pearl of great price.

Women must adorn themselves in modest apparel. God though that apparel was important enough to make clothes for the first pair and to discuss it in the Bible. Too many women dress in such a way that is seems they are trying to see how close they can come to indecency without falling over. When we appear in judgment we will have to answer for the way we have dressed. Too many women are following the wold in their dress, but worldliness has no part in a Christian's life.

Proverbs 31:25 say she is dignified. A dignified person has qualities to inspire or command respect. DO shorts and men's clothing do this? Recently I heard a man of the world  say that a real lady wears dresses.

Some women try to be like men; they copy their clothes; they smoke and copy in a number of things, but as Talmadge said the woman who does so "becomes a hybrid, neither one or the other but a failure."

A Christian woman should adorn herself with strength and honor. She should have a meek and quiet spirit (one that bears up under trials and adversities) with good works instead of trying to keep up with the latest style. A little boy was asked what meekness was and he said that his sister was meekness because she always have smooth answers to rough questions.

"Good deeds, like sunbeams, shine by a luster, purely their own; not can their brightness be tarnished bu all the calumnies or the slanderer's tongue."

Patience and long suffering are virtues every woman should have; she can not live in comfort without them. It preserves peace, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, bridles the tongue and produces harmony. Patience means to suffer provocation with a calm unruffled temper. It also means to have the quality of waiting for what you want without murmuring or fretting. Horne described the attire of patience by saying, "Her countenance is calm and serene as the face of heaven un-spotted by the shadow of a cloud,k and no wrinkle of grief or anger is seen in her forehead. Her eyes are as the eyes of doves for meekness, and on her eyebrows sit cheerfulness and joy. Her mouth is lovely in silence; her complexion and color that of innocence and security; while like the virgin, the daughter of Sion, she shakes her head at the adversary, despising and laughing him to scorn. --Her throne is the humble and contrite heart, and her kingdom is the kingdom or peace." The value of patience has been compared to a jewel. "Pressed by sand and rocks, it reposes in the dark lap of the earth. Though no ray of light comes near it, it is radiant with imperishable beauty. Its brightness remains even in the deep night; but when liberated from the dark prison it forms, united to gold, the distinguishing mark and ornament of glory, the ring, the scepter and the crown. Her end and reward is the crown of life."

God takes time to bring about His purposes. He took four hundred years in bringing about His purposes concerning  the Israelites. We must wait. Patience is the grace needed in wating. Let us not be like the Israelites and forget or depair. "With time and patience the muberry leaf becomes satin." ``H. W. Beecher.

Contentment is a virtue the Christian woman should adorn herself with. Contentment is cloecely connected with patience. So long as we have the necessities of life we should be happy. The person who is discontented and tries to find happiness by changing anything but his own disposition nd immediate surroudnings will waste his life in fruitless efforts and fultiply the discontent which he seeks to remove. "The fountain of content much spring up in the mind."

Every Christian woman must adorn herself with sympathy. We find comfort in our own trials when we give sympathy to others. One Christian woman said that she never saw the death of a child announced in a paper that she didn't have an impulse to write words of comfort to the parents. She derived comfort for the loss of her own child when she gave sympathy to others.

A woman cannot adorn herself as a Christian without bearing the gruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23). A Christian is compared to a tree and the Christan woman who does not bear the fruit of the Spriit is like a tree which has beautiful leaves but it rotten on the inside. Her have and form may be beautiful but her heat is rotten.

If we adorn ourselves with these crowning virtues it will help us to build a Christ-like personality, one that grows more beautiful with age.

The Girl I Used To Be

She came tonight as I sat alone,
The girl I used to be.
She gazed at me with her earnest eye
And questioned me reproachfully.

"Have you forgotten the many plans,
The hopes that were held for you;
The great career, the splendid fame,
And the wonderful things to do?"
"Where is your mansion of stately height,
With its gardens surpassing fair?"
The silken robe that was planned for you
And the jewels for your hair."
And as she talked I was very said,
For I wanted her pleased with me,
This slender girl from the shadowy past,
The girl I used to be.
Then gently arising I took her hand
And guided her up the stair
Where peacefully my babies lay
Innocent, sweet and fair.

I told her that they were my only gems,
And precious they are to me;
That my silken robe is motherhood
Of happy simplicity;
That my mansion of stately height is love,
And the only career I know
Is serving each day within sheltering walls
The dear ones who need me so.
And as I spoke to my shadowy guest,
She smiled through her tears that me--
For I saw that the woman I am now
Pleased the girl I used to be.
~Author unknown