Inner Beauty

Although outward beauty may be seen

all painted on with a brush so fair
its shallowness can be revealed
in our actions unaware,

But inner beauty is much more rare
and it comes from God above
It is shown in how we act
and how we show His love.

Like an oyster in the ocean
its outer shell so plain and dull
but when you look inside of it
there's a pearl so beautiful.

I hope to be like the oyster
when you look inside you'll see
a heart so warm and beautiful
and see God's love inside of me.

©copyright 2002 Ruth Johnson

Merry Christmas!!!

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.Isaiah 9:6

Favorite Things

If you are looking for a way to bless someone and you just can't think of anything tangible to give, I'm sharing some of my FAVORITE things that has really blessed me.

1. Driven DVD/CD Combo by Pastors Myles and DeLana Rutherford I must say I feel as though this was made specifically for me. I received it at a time in my life where I was going through some things and this CD along with crying out to God helped me regain my strength.
   

Pastors Myles and DeLana Rutherford

Driven DVD/CD

2. Personal Home Diary~ This will be a great asset to your home. To purchase your very own PHD for $13.99 and receive an Instant Download click here. Thanks to DeLonda Adams for such a great tool to add to my Home Management Binder.





3. Lisa Shaw Book: You are Beautiful In God's Eyes to purchase your hard copy click here. It's also available Kindle e Book or Nook e Book.





I hope you checkout these items. They have really blessed me.

F.A.R Girlz

"Far Above Rubies"

I would like to introduce you to a new ministry geared for young ladies under the age of 30. F.A.R Girlz is dedicated to leading our young ladies into a genuine relationship with their Father in heaven.

FAR Girlz is here to set the captives free by giving our young ladies the reality of God’s word. This reality will allow the chains of bondage to break and they will grasp what their true worth is; which allows them to no longer mimic the customs of this world and also be able to freely live in Christ.

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32

Our vision here at FAR Girlz is to be able to impact the life of every woman that God allows to cross our path; that she may discover her true identity apart from her past and worldly customs by "knowing" Christ.

Please sow into someone's life and bless them by sharing this ministries information with others.


Follow F.A.R Girlz:

http://www.facebook.com/fargirlz


http://www.fargirlz.blogspot.com/

Santa - Our Imaginary Friend

Santa - Our Imaginary Friend

One of the tough topics that all Christians have to face when we accept Christ is to embrace truth and reject lies. Many of those lies are society’s lies. They are the lies that brought us such much joy as children. With the season approaching, yes, I am talking about “Santa – Our Imaginary Friend”

As a child, I don’t remember believing in Santa, I just pretended to fit in. We were extremely poor so as other children bragged about their elaborate gifts and I didn’t have any to brag about, I told my own lie of getting gifts that I only wished that I had received. It was quite a reality check for a young child. The 2010 Census revealed that the rate of families living in poverty spiked showing that 1 in 5 children in America now live below the poverty line. That was 18 months ago, so I am sure it has increased. Even middle class families put off paying their utility bills to feed into the pressure. Imagine how many children have to face the facts when they wake up to an empty Christmas tree and then face other children who were showered in gifts. It's hard to keep up with societies lie when not all of society can afford it.

Later, as a single mom of three, I bought in to all of the hype. It was an opportunity to overcompensate for my childhood. I love creating traditions. I believed in God but found myself mixing Jesus with Santa. I was such a free-spirited mother that I didn’t even realize that I was mixing the truth with a lie. But I was one of those christians. You know, the ones that believed in Christ, but didn’t really follow Him. I admired Jesus without surrendering to Jesus. Now that I look back on it, I realize that not only did I tell many elaborate lies to my children, I went through extreme measures to convince them of them.

Here is just a small list:

Santa – We visited a man dressed as Santa, had pictures taken with him, left out cookies and milk for him, left out reindeer food, left stocking for Santa to feel them with candy and even had my brother-in-law call when my children were misbehaving to tell them that he knows that they are being “naughty.”

Easter Bunny - We visited a man dressed as The Easter Bunny, had pictures taken with The Easter Bunny, colored eggs so he could hide them and ate hollowed chocolate bunnies in honor of him.

The Tooth Fairy – I would put their tooth under their pillows, wait until they were asleep, replace it with money and then sprinkle glitter from their bed to the window and when they showed me, I acted like I couldn’t see it. I even had my daughter in on the lying as she whispered to my son “Only kids can see the glitter.”

The Boogey Man – While other parents convinced their kids that there was no boogey man, I used it to my advantage. When my daughter was a toddler, she would always try to play in the toilet. When I saw her go in the bathroom and I wanted her out, I would tell her that she better come out or “The Boogey Man” would get her. Terrible, I know.

Where do babies come from? – When my oldest daughter sprung this on me, I was 21 and unprepared so I quickly replied, “From swallowing watermelon seeds.” A year later, she runs in the house telling that she is pregnant because she swallowed a watermelon seed. Learning the lesson from my first incident, when it came up with my second daughter, I still was unprepared and told her that I plant a seed in a garden and the father waters it. My kids still laugh over my elaborate lies.

I remember when my kids were attending an in-home daycare and the provider was of Pentecostal faith. She wore long skirts, long hair, no make-up and no jewelry. One day, on the way home from picking up my kids, my daughter told me that she had told them that I lied to them about Santa. That it was a way to take the focus off of Jesus’s birthday. I was irate. I contacted her and told her to mind her business and it was my job.

Of course now as a christian woman who every day tries to imitate Christ, I understand that you can’t imitate Christ by embracing lies. I think back on how much I lied yet at the same time, I expected nothing but truth from my children. Would I handle a situation like my daycare provider? No. As the teaching of Jesus will tell you, our job in ministry is to put information out and it is up to the recipient to receive it or reject it. I would never force Christ on anyone. That's the beauty of free will.

Before I faced the truth, of course I looked for every excuse to embrace Santa. He was like family. I felt like I was about to kill an important character in my favorite story. It was heartbreaking. He was one of the reasons that my children had such creativity and wild imaginations. I compared him to fairytales and quickly found that it wasn’t credible because the kids know that they are just stories. We go through extreme measures to make Santa “real.” A lie was a lie and Santa had to go so I had to kill him off.

I finally told my kids the truth by confessing to them that I had been lying. I told them about the story of the toymaker St. Nicholas and how he made toys for the children and left candy in their stocking as they hung by the fireplace to dry. I told them after he died, the tradition just went on. Then I told them the real reason for the season. That I just bought into the lie and the shallow definition of Christmas.

Even if Christmas not the real date of the birth of Christ as many christians often debate around this time, praise God, He was born. We still celebrate the season for significance of the day and give each other presents in the spirit of giving. We also try our best to help the less fortunate and homeless and in today’s economic climate, the need is even greater. We spend time as a family and take time to appreciate the gift of life, but we no longer embrace the lie.

We embrace the story of the baby born in a manger and the priceless gift that his birth represented. The gift of Grace.

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” Ephesians 4:25

Have a Merry Christmas,

Katrina Smith

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