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!

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

Am I the only one bothered by this?

So I’m in the mall the other day and need to ask the sales associate a question.

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

“Yes?” She replies, as she turns around to me. Much to my horror, she is wearing a shirt, similar to the one above with only a bra underneath… a see through one.

“Ummmmm,” I mutter while trying to remember my question and overt my eyes to the floor. Glad that my hubby wasn’t with me I leave the store embarrassed by what I’ve just encountered.

This incident along with some of my teen girls asking about how to dress modestly (and my research into answering their question from a biblical aspect and not just a personal preference.) Has prompted me to start working on a blog post and a Sunday school lesson(s) about Dressing Like a Child of the King.

If you knew me before I was married you would know that the area of dress has never been my strong suit. I’ve always struggled with trying to fit it, be in style, and be attractive according to the world’s standards. I grew up in a good church that taught on dress and having appropriate standards of modesty but I guess it never sank in or maybe I was too consumed with the lie the devil feeds us about beauty and how to achieve it. It was not until I got married, to a very loving and forgiving man, who helped me see the lie I had bought and who has also encouraged me to change my dress for the glory of God.

It is not easy for me to write on this subject because I feel so inadequate. But at the same time I know that God uses the inadequate and the broken so He can gain all the glory. I hope that you will pray for me and with me as I work on this subject and if you have any 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.

Thanks in advance,

Bex