Mrs. Becky Knows

“Mrs. Becky, how did you know that?” says Stacey in astonishment.

“Mrs. Becky knows everything!” replied Lauren, “we should make a hashtag, #MrsBeckyKnows and post it every time she says something that no one else knows.”

I don’t know where I got the idea that all Pastors and their families were perfect. That they had all knowledge about the scriptures and knew all the answers to life’s greatest questions. However, I do remember thinking, when I married my Youth Pastor husband, “Wait a second God, I don’t know everything yet!”

In four years of youth ministry I have learned an awful lot. As a matter of fact, I have here for you just three simple rules, that, if followed, will help you tremendously through life.

 Mrs. Becky’s Rules for Knowing EVERYTHING!

1. Realize that you Don’t know everything
2. Recognize Who does – James 1:5
3. Rely on His Wisdom – Proverbs 4:5-9

Kenny has been preaching through “The ABC’s of Christian Growth” on Wednesday nights, we’re on letter B-Bible. In his preaching he has said over and over that the Bible is the foundation for all we do as Christians and that our actions, beliefs and standards for living should be based on the Bible. Our late Pastor, Mark Brown, also did a wonderful job of pointing us to the scriptures. He used to ask “What does the Bible say about that?” This study has been an excellent reminder that God wants us to have knowledge and understanding and He has given us His Word to help us in that endeavor.

“I don’t know the answer to that question. Lets find it together.”

Living Unashamed: Remember Your Name (Part 1)

“Remember whose child you are!” My Dad said this as my brother and I were getting out of the van. We both nodded back in reply, as we closed the door and headed into a teen hang out with our friends. Did your parents ever say that to you? Or maybe it was more along the lines of “Remember your name!” You are probably wondering what remembering your name has to do with dress, so I’ll tell you.



The Bible tells us in Acts that the disciples (those who were saved and serving God) were given the name “Christians.” We’ve held this name ever since even though sometimes we forget what this title means.

To be a Christian you must first be saved. This means that you’ve realized that no good work you could ever do is good enough to save you. Only by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection alone gives you the promise of Heaven and the assurance that the penalty of your sins has been paid in full.

So many people think that being saved is all you need to be able to wear the “Christian” name, but there’s more. Acts says that the disciples were given the name Christian. This means that you can’t just be saved you also need to serve. Service is done in many ways through the local church but there is one thing we all are commanded to do, “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

“But people don’t listen to me, they call me a hypocrite.” Is it because you are one?

People all around us are watching our every move. Most people, even if they have never darkened the door of a church, know what a Christian is supposed to act like, talk like and even what we’re supposed to dress like.

Here is were I’m going to be very transparent, very open with you. I know I am a Hypocrite. I know that I fail God every.single.day. I know that I never have been and never will be everything that I’m supposed to be as a Christian.

But… (I love this little word)

I know that God’s mercies are new every morning. I know that He never fails. And its because of what I know that I choose to ask His forgiveness, {that He always, so faithfully, gives} get up out of the dirt I’ve fallen in, and continue on, striving to do better for His Glory!

Remember your name! That day my Dad told us to remember who’s children we were has followed me for a long time. We knew what he meant, he was telling us that we were his children and that we were expected to act like it even though he wasn’t going to be there. God is telling us the same thing, remember your name, remember your a Christian, so think, act, talk, and dress like it!

Tomorrow I’m going to go into a little more detail about dressing like a Christian so I hope you’ll come back for part 2. But maybe your here, reading this today and you don’t know what it is like to be a Christian. You’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, or maybe you never knew that Jesus wants to take your sins away. If this is you please contact me, I would be more than happy to talk to you about this and show you in the Bible how you can be a Child of God.

For my Christian friends, here is the call to action! How long has it been since you’ve asked for forgiveness for not living the way you’re supposed to, dusted yourself off and started living for the Lord? I have to do this every day, sometimes several times a day! Make today your day, put on the “Christian” name and live like it!

If your new here and would like to see other posts in the "Living Unashamed" Series you can do so by clicking on either the "Living Unashamed" Tab at the top of this page or the "Living Unashamed" Button on the left hand side under "Blogging Series." 

~Thank You for your visit!

My Worst Enemy

Who’s my Enemy?

A lot of times we think that because someone is mean to us that makes them our enemy. Maybe a teacher is being unfair, or gave you a bad grade. Maybe your parent came down hard on you for doing something or accused you wrongly. Maybe your spouse said something hurtful or wasn’t as nice as he/she could have been. Does that make them our enemy?

I made a Facebook announcement that my Hubby had accidentally deleted something on our computer that was needed to make my blog writing program work… “It was an accident. I mean, he didn’t intentionally do that to keep me from blogging… right?” This is just the beginning of a thought process that leads straight to me making him, my one true love, an enemy in my mind.

Why am I telling you this? Because it is so easy to forget who our real enemy is. This morning I was reading in Psalm 119 (quickly becoming my favorite passage) and I was struck by this verse:

“Thou through the commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.”

Psalm 119:98

“For they are ever with me.” triggered this thought in my journal - “Often my enemies are my own thoughts and fleshly actions. I need to learn God’s Word, to keep it with me, so I will then learn to recognize the true enemy and fight him instead of those I love.” After writing this I remembered something I had read a while back in a book titled “A Worthy Model – God’s Pattern for Women” by Wendy Burks

“It is when I am not walking in the Spirit, having God’s power on my life, that Satan is able to bring the battle right into my home and deceive me into thinking that my husband is the enemy or my children are the enemy; when in reality, HE IS THE ENEMY!”

The point is that the sooner I figure out who my real enemy is and stop attacking the people around me the better off I’ll be, not to mention those being attacked!

Kenny worked tirelessly into the wee hours of the morning to get the problem on our computer fixed. This included backing up all the files on our computer, deleting everything and re-downloading windows7 along with my writing program to get it working again. “He does love me!”

Remember who your worst enemy is.

 

I’ll be back tomorrow to continue the Living Unashamed mini series. Hope you’ll come back to check it out!

Living Unashamed: Beauty & the Lie

 

 

If your just starting this series you can read the first two posts here: Am I the only one bothered by this? and Living Un-Ashamed. You can also see all the posts for this series in the tab “Living Unashamed”

 

By nature, we as women, want to be attractive, we want to be beautiful and we want the opposite gender to notice. Nothing wrong with that, its normal, that’s the way God created us to be! The problem is that Satan has fed us a lie about what is attractive. He has led us to believe that a little cleavage is normal, a tight outfit just shows off the figure God has blessed us with, and if a man looks on a woman to lust, well shame on him! (I’ll share more on the men’s part in a later post).

 

“The problem is that Satan has fed us a lie about what is attractive.”

 

One thing I try to stress to my teen girls is that I know where they are, I know the struggles they face wanting to fit in and look like everyone else. The desire to be attractive and have people notice, to have boys notice. I know what its like to cry in a dressing room because nothing fits. I know how it feels to shop for hours and leave the store feeling defeated because my Mom and I couldn’t agree on an outfit. I know because I’ve been there, in a lot of ways I’m still there, instead of arguing with my Mom, however, its now Me{fleshly appetite Becky} verses Me {God’s new creature Becky} let me tell you, that is an exhausting battle!

 

We all want to be attractive and pleasing to the eye, at least I don’t think anyone’s goal in life is to be homely. But the Devil has fed us a lie and we’ve bought it for years! Look at the make-up ads, they are strategically geared, through the pictures, to tell you what beautiful women, supposedly, look like and you can look like them too if you buy these products.

 

 

I know what your thinking, let me assure you, I am not about to bash make-up companies. I use make-up daily, I just want to make one statement that we’ve all probably heard. Again, not meaning to bash any company, but have you heard Maybelline's catch phrase?

“Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe its Maybelline.”

With that one little phrase they are saying: Maybe its natural but more likely, its product. They are saying there is no way that you are beautiful with out our products.

 

These are the lies Ladies!

 

And there are more, clothing, make-up, style, jewelry, perfume, you name it and the ads tell each one of us that we won’t be beautiful until we look just like them.

Here’s the truth, and its simple. The Bible tells us in John 8:32

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Dear person reading this, God’s Word has all the truth we could ever desire.  Psalm 119:45 says, “And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.” God’s promise, His truth, is freedom and liberty if we will read His Word and obey it.

 

I could give you “Becky’s 12 Steps to becoming a Modest Dresser,” (ha ha) but those would be my words, why not take your instruction on dress, on standards, on living… From the One who wrote The Book. Search His Word, obey it, and “the truth shall make you free.”

 

I hope this has been a help to each person reading this. I have two more posts I’m working on, one is about “Dressing like who we are” and the other is borrowed from a fellow blogger and it is called “A Man’s Point of View.” If you have any questions, comments, or even something you’d like for me to cover please leave a comment or send me an email. I would love to hear from you!

~Bex

Living Un-ashamed

I want to apologize for my absence, I made my grand announcement about what I wanted to write on and then disappeared. Partly, my disappearance was because my parents came to visit me, but the main reason is that I wanted to make sure that what I write is coming from a loving heart and a genuine desire to help others in this area.

I started reading Psalm 119 again this month (after receiving a challenge to do so last month) but this time with a new focus: to write the theme (or what spoke to me) in the margin of my Bible for each set of verses. Today, I read verses 1-8 and of coarse God gave me exactly what I needed, not only for my day but also to write this post. In verse 6, which says, “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” the simple truth I gathered here was this,

“Living life unashamed starts with learning God’s Word.”

If I want to live unashamed, dress unashamed, act unashamed, talk unashamed and eventually stand before God unashamed I must learn God’s Word right now! This really struck a chord with me, knowing that I would be writing for this “mini-series,” and also knowing the shame that comes with being asked to change clothes because my dress was inappropriate. If we would just realize that the answer for all of our problems are found in God’s Word and when we follow God’s commandments then we can live a life unashamed!
Our Pastor has started a series on Sunday Nights called “Learn Christ: Having a Relationship.” It is all about how to read your Bible and how to get something out of it. One of the things he said this past Sunday Night was that you need to focus on reading your Bible… (duh, right?) he continued to say that often we read devotionals, Christian self-help books or commentaries, which are all fine and good, but instead of reading God’s Word for ourselves we are relying on what other men and women have gotten from God’s Word instead. God wants to speak to us. He has a specific message just for us, each and every day, and you won’t get it if your not reading God’s Word for yourself!
I’m raising my hand right here (GUILTY) I often don’t know what to read in the scriptures so I’ve been relying on devotionals to give me direction and food for the day. However, this morning as I was gearing up to start writing this post I went straight to God’s Word and let Him speak directly to me, and lo and behold, God gave me a little nugget, a simple truth that I can claim, that I can learn from, and that I am sharing with you today.

Get in God’s Word, Obey His Commandments, Live Unashamed!

What does this have to do with dress? Get in God’s Word and let Him show you how your supposed to dress! This may sound a little strange, I know it always did to me when my youth pastor’s wife would say it, I would think things like the Bible doesn’t say whether to wear the blue shirt or the red shirt or that I didn’t know there were hem length requirements in scriptures… Those thoughts are mostly true, God doesn’t give us thou shalts and thou shalt nots when it comes to dress but He does give us principles on modesty. God’s Word tells us how we can live a life unashamed.
Ever go somewhere and know you shirt is too low or your skirt is too short so you start pulling on it to get it at least close to where its supposed to be? (My hand is raised, again) This is a form of shame and my futile effort to cover the shame I bear. Don’t live like that! Go to the scriptures with an honest, open heart, wanting to learn and God will show you areas that need change, but then you must make the choice to change, to live and dress unashamed.
Now the promise, when I learn God’s Word, when I am living in accordance with God’s Word then (verse 7) “I will praise thee (God) with uprightness of heart,” (!!!) Praising God “with uprightness of heart” comes from having nothing between myself and God. It is saying I am unashamed… Beautifully unashamed!
The next post in this series will cover just that (Lord willing), Beauty and the Lie we’ve bought. Thank you so much for reading this post, you all have been such an encouragement offering advice and things to think about as I’m working on this little series. I hope that you will continue to pray for me and with me as I work on this subject and if you have any more suggestions that may be a help I hope you will e-mail them to me or leave a comment for all to see and gain help as well.
Now go live Unashamed!
~Bex

Two Things I Said I’d Never Do

This week I joined two social media websites that I said I would never get into, Instagram and Twitter. Instagram really isn’t that bad, I’ve actually been enjoying being able to take a picture, edit it a little and post it for a quick update on what we’re doing. But Twitter…. (sigh) I’ve made fun of twitter since it started, why on earth you would want to post status updates all day long is beyond me. So why did I get into these?

For my kids.

Hebrews 13:17 says “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

I mentioned in my last post about doing some “remembering,” and with that remembering comes a lot of thankfulness for those who watched for my soul as a teenager. The prayers that were said on my behalf were numerous at times I’m sure! Kenny and I do a lot of praying for our teens but we also try to do a lot of checking up on them as well. One of the many ways I have been doing that is through social media like Facebook and now Twitter and Instagram. It’s just one (or two) more ways to get in touch with our teens and hold them accountable for the way they use these sites as well as a way to be encouraging to them too!

If your on Twitter and/or Instagram look me up!

@BeckyGodby

 

If you are a parent or youth worker reading this, let me encourage you to check out what your teen has been doing on these sites. Often times you will be surprised at what you will find! Hopefully you don’t find anything to be alarmed by, but just the same, do some checking, keep your teen accountable to what they say/post and what they are reading. Encourage your teen to have good friends (online ones too) who will edify them and help them to grow spiritually.

The Devil’s Beatitudes

Heard this at church tonight and thought it was very thought provoking! If the Devil were to write his own list of “Beatitudes” this is probably pretty close to what they would sound like.

“Blessed are those Christians who are too tired, too busy, and too distracted to spend time with their fellow Christians in Church

-they are good candidates to back slide.

Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked

-those I can use to slow things down.

Blessed are those Christians who are touchy; with a bit of luck they may stop going to church and get others to do likewise

-they are my missionaries

Blessed are those Christians who are troublemakers

-they are my best wrecking crew.

Blessed are those Christians who have no time to pray

-they are easy prey for me.

Blessed are those Christians who are complainers

-they are my best discouragers.

Blessed are those Christians who are bored with the minister’s mannerism and mistakes

-they will get nothing out of his sermons.

Blessed are those Christians who expect to be invited to his own church

-they are part of the problem instead of the solution.

Blessed are those Christians who gossip

-they shall cause strife and divisions that please me.

Blessed are those Christians who professes to love God but hates his brother and sister

-they shall be with me forever.

Blessed are those Christians who read this and think it is about other people and not themselves

-I’ve got you!

~Author Unknown

“Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” – Ephesians 6:11

Special Blessing

I wanted to share this real quick. I ran across a blog called “The Better Mom” while I was looking at things on Pinterest that I’ve done to show you (tomorrow). Anyways, I decided to follow it for a while to check it out and see if it was something I’d be interested in staying with – my disclaimer – I have not read all the content on this blog, and therefore by sharing this one post I read I am not necessarily endorsing or recommending this blog as a “Good Read” quite yet. – disclaimer finished! :) whew now on to what I wanted to share.

Some of you know that Kenny and I have had a rough couple of weeks. Its been an emotional time of testing and uncertainty for both of us and I would ask your prayers on our behalf as we have some big decisions to make in the coming weeks. (If you do not already know our situation I would like to politely request that you not ask questions but rather keep us in your prayers knowing that God knows what we need. Thank you in advance.) As I was saying before, I ran across this blog and read one of the posts for today. if you would like to read the whole thing you can follow this link. It was a very good, and to the point post that was worth reading.

The writer of the post was quoting a paragraph from a book she was reading called “Dancing With My Father” by Sally Clarkson (Again, I have not read this book myself but merely received a piece of comfort from this excerpt).

To dance in the midst of terrible suffering is to resolve, “I will not be a victim. I will not allow this situation to determine the response of my heart, because I have this life, this chance to trust God, to show his reality through my circumstances. I resolve to remain strong and faithful because of the loving God who holds my hand.” ~Sally Clarkson, Dancing With my Father

That thought “I resolve to remain strong and faithful because of the loving God who holds my hand.” it makes me continually think “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” – Hebrews 13:5. God has not left us to go through this trial alone, He’s been there all the time and will continue to be here, with us.

The other encouragement from this; my role in the situation at hand and the ones that will come in the future is to resolve “…not to be a victim. I will not allow this situation to determine the response of my heart, because I have… this chance to trust God.”

Bex

May Photo A Day Challenge - You

Day 6 – You

This isn’t a picture of me but rather who I want to be. Last year before Kenny and I got married I stumbled upon “Revive Our Hearts – The Counter-cultural Woman” series. I was so blessed, encouraged and convicted about being a godly wife and future mother that I decided I would go back each year and do some kind of study on the Proverbs 31 woman for our wedding anniversary. Its hard to believe that Kenny and I will celebrate our 1st anniversary in less than a month! So needless to say this passage of scripture has been steady on my mind and heart. I am learning to love this woman and slowly realizing that God didn’t put her in our Bible to make us feel guilty about what we are not doing, but to show us that her actions were done in love, a love for her family, for those around her and, most importantly a love for her God – my God. If you get the chance I hope you’ll go and read about her, she’s an amazing woman!