Thinking Deeply

Lie #9: I need a boyfriend.
TRUTH: The purpose of marriage is not happiness but to glorify God. God does not want you to awaken love until the time is right.

This lie is huge in the female world. When I entered middle school, I turned into this crazy girl who was majorly boy crazy. By 7th grade, I was already in my first relationship. I have had six total romantic relationships in my entire dating career. (That would be up to my sophomore year of college.)

I want to make a conclusion. Having a boyfriend is honestly…not that great. Girls get all hyped up, they get in a relationship, and sometimes they get disappointed. That was me. BIG TIME! Each relationship that I had kept ending after a while. Also, there was a certain aspect that was totally wrong. Every time I left a relationship, I was broken and empty. Talk about a BIG disappointment. I was hoping for completion and for unconditional love, but in return I got brokenness and conditional love.

During my dating career, I wished someone would have told me that having a boyfriend is not important at all. And that having a relationship with Christ first – is the MOST important. I would have lived a way more happier life if I spent my time with my relationship with Christ, instead of all the six said boyfriends.

The purpose of marriage is not happiness for yourself, even though it can lead to that. The purpose of marriage is to glorify God. Looking back, I can definitely say that I’m happy I didn’t end up marrying one of my past boyfriend. That wouldn’t have glorified God at all.

Ephesians 5:31-32 – “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

Another point I would like to make is that: God does not want you to awaken love until the time is right. Love can be a very tricky thing. If you let it loose, it runs wild. When love runs wild, you make mistakes that you don’t want to make. You are so distracted by “love” that you would say yes when you should say no. Love needs to be held on to and it needs to be calm until you are safely married in a God-glorifying marriage. Then you can let it loose, and you can get all the benefits of love and marriage.

Song of Songs 2:7 – “Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.”

Remember, you don’t need a boyfriend to complete you. Only God can do that in your heart! And also, do not awaken love until the time is right! :)

Works Cited:

DeMoss, Nancy Leigh., and Dannah Gresh. Lies Young Women Believe. Chicago, IL: Moody, 2008. Print.

(Sorry, I didn’t post last Friday. It was a busy day! Here is Monday’s post.)

Lie #8: I have to perform to be loved and accepted.
TRUTH: Your value is not determined by what you do, but by how God views you. Your good works are to glorify God, not yourself.

This is a huge lie that many people believe, not just women.

When you get the idea of “I am have to be the best to be accepted…” – it is very hard to change your ways. That was especially hard for me. I can be very stubborn at times. When I set my mind on something, I totally believe it. And when I am told otherwise, I FREAK out. Seriously, I do. I get like super depressed and I lose my identify in a way.

So when you are told this: “Your value is not determined by what you do, but by how God views you.” Some of you will probably freak out like I did, but others will probably sigh in relief. It is like a HUGE burden has been lifted from your shoulders.

Let me talk to the freak out people first. This is a true statement that was just stated. I want to repeat it again. “Your value is not determined by what you do, but by how God views you.” Take the time to soak this statement in. Soak in the true meaning and realize that your view point was wrong. Accept this new view point into your mind. Live life knowing that you don’t have to be burdened by what you think you have to do in order to be accepted. You are accepted by God no matter what!

Let me now talk to the sighers. You have probably gone through life freaking out inside your heart, because you believe your parents, friends, teachers, or whoever expected you to perform to the best of your ability (or perhaps better). Well, guess what? You are free from this ridiculous burden! Live life free! Enjoy your freedom! No more worrying!

Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present not the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Also, there is another thing I want to mention and remind you guys of. When you are doing whatever you are best at (e.g. academics, sports, music, etc.) – you need to remember to do it all for the glory of God. God gave you this certain talent for a reason. Do it for the glory of God. This task should not be a burden – it should be a honor and a pleasure!

1 Corinthians 10:31 – “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Works Cited:

DeMoss, Nancy Leigh., and Dannah Gresh. Lies Young Women Believe. Chicago, IL: Moody, 2008. Print.

Lie #7: Beautiful girls are worth more.
TRUTH: Physical beauty is only temporary. The beauty that matters most to God is on the inside.

Hey gals, THIS IS HUGE!!! Our society is full of people saying that beautiful girls are worth more. This is a HUGE LIE!!! Our society lies to you, ladies! You are beautiful, no matter what!

Here are a couple questions to ask yourself: Do you think you’re ugly? Do you think you are worthless? Do you desperately crave attention to prove to yourself that you are important? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you desperately need to change your attitude about yourself.

The truth is: Physical beauty is only temporary. You know all those “girls” you see on magazine covers and on TV; their physical beauty will fade over the years. Physical beauty and staying young forever is not all what it cracks up to be. All the efforts you do to try to make yourself more beautiful will just make yourself bitter, depressed, and empty. Physical beauty doesn’t matter in God’s eyes. God cares about your heart. Are you beautiful on the inside?

Some of you probably cringed a little when I asked that last question. Well, here it is again. Are you beautiful on the inside? Are you free of anger, lust, jealousy, or bitterness? The list can go on and on. What you should really care about is what is in your heart. Work to become a honorable woman the eyes of God. That is the only thing that matters in His eyes.

Here are some Bible passages that can help out:

Proverbs 31:30 – “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

1 Peter 3:3-5 – “Your beauty should not come rom outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.”

1 Timothy 2:9-10 – “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”

I can go on and on about this topic, but I just wanted to briefly go over it. Remember ladies, DON’T BELIEVE THE LIES OF OUR SOCIETY!!!

If your heart is beautiful, then you are truly beautiful in God’s eyes.

Works Cited:

DeMoss, Nancy Leigh., and Dannah Gresh. Lies Young Women Believe. Chicago, IL: Moody, 2008. Print.

(Sorry, that I didn’t post on Wednesday or Friday last week. It was finals week at Cedarville University. Here is today’s post.)

Watch this video here:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/odd-15749658/gadget-helping-partially-paralyzed-asu-triathlete-beat-the-odd-28708207.html

Even though she was diagnosed with a tragic disability, she worked hard to get back the activity that she loved. She is a hero in my eyes.

Something you can learn from this young lady is the following.

If you love something enough, you will work hard to get it back.

So for those who are reading this blog who have a disability. If you love something, you can work hard to get it back, but you may have to make some compromises along the way. (E.g. a paralyzed person in a wheelchair can’t compete in the Olympics, but they can compete in the Special Olympics.)

An example in my life. I love hiking and biking. Right after I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, the pain and fatigue was so bad that I couldn’t walk at all. I would be stuck in a bed or chair. No physical activity whatsoever. I wanted to get my life back. I have been working hard again, so I can actually walk and do sports. I have been working through the pain and fatigue. Today I am walking, running, biking, hiking, and even playing volleyball.

I hope some of you guys will take from inspiration from this!

Recently, I have been having a conversation with a fellow music major about how people don’t appreciate the music majors at my school. And honestly, those people’s opinions hurt us deeply. So I wanted to talk a little about it and explain what a music major really does.

1. We take our profession and study seriously.
This is not because we are crazy. This is because we have a great passion for music. And I mean REAL music. Not doing karaoke or messing around on the piano. I mean REAL music. So like singing Handel’s Messiah or Mozart’s Requiem. And for my piano friends, playing Chopin, Beethoven, Bartok, or whatever else. We aren’t practicing to give people amusement. We are practicing to give people musement.

2. Music is not a “cope-out” major.
I just want to hit the people that say this about music majors. (But I won’t do that because I’m a nice person.) Let me run down the schedule and the work load of music majors. It varies from each specific music degree, but it’s pretty much the same.
1. We have to practice for like 3-6 hours each day with our instruments or spend 4 hours a day composing music for those music composition majors.
2. Then every music major is required to be in at least one music ensemble on campus (not including OneVoice and Heartsong). Many of the music majors are in more ensembles though. Of course, we have to practice for those too, so our practice time increases.
3. We still have to go to music classes and the general education classes at our university requires. So we have to complete the homework in all of those classes. And music classes are NOT easy! NOT AT ALL! We have to work our butts off to actually get a good grade in the class.
4. Many of the music majors have jobs or they teach lessons. So that takes up even more time in our schedule.
5. Then we have many rehearsals we have to go to, especially when we have a HUGE program coming up. For example, Masterworks.

3. Unlike other majors, if we get sick and/or injured, it is very hard or impossible to complete the work we have to do.
Vocalists can’t sing when they are sick, so it is horrible when we get sick. So we have to take care of ourselves in order for us to not get sick. Pianists and instrumentals have to be really carefully when it comes to their hands and arms. If they injure themselves, it is all over! When people in other certain majors get sick or injured, they can get through their major without too much difficulty.

4. Our Music major curriculum has REALLY HIGH standards!
This one is self-explanatory. We have to work at our profession. We can’t fake through. We have to improve all the time. Our professors push us, so that we can become the best musicians ever.

5. We are worshipping and glorifying God through our music making!
This is just a great honor for those who are musicians. We are playing our music to the ultimate Creator of music! :) We are just thrilled when we do this. We are important! We also help others worship God through leading singing or just playing beautiful music!

One thing that people can do to help support music majors is to…

ACCEPT US!!!

Like seriously, it stresses us out when people don’t understand us or don’t even care about what we do. It makes us really sad when we have a big concert and NOBODY comes! Come and enjoy some good music that took tons of time to perfect. You won’t be disappointed!

Special thanks from all the music majors!

During one of my prayer times with God, I was worrying a lot about my future. Honestly, I have no clue what is going to happen. I have a desire for women ministry and music. My plan at this moment is that I will finish my music degree at Cedarville University and then I will go to seminary (hopefully at Liberty University). Who knows what will happen in the next two years? Haha!

During this certain prayer time, I was asking God for guidance and peace of mind about the future. Then I was reminded of something…God has it under control. God has everything under control.

And God will reveal the future of my life in pieces. Just like a cloudy sky slowly revealing the pretty stars in the sky on a dark night. (Can you tell I was star-gazing? Bahaha!)

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I hope this is an encouragement to you today! :)

I was looking at the news today and I was very distressed to see that most of this news articles were about court cases, disagreements, violence, and more and more negative things.

My question: Why do we dwell on the negative things in this world?

Another question: Why aren’t we doing anything about it?

Let’s change the world. Let’s focus on the positive aspects of this world for a change.

That is my small thought for today. Think about it.

You have probably have heard this so many times in your lifetime.

“Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”

This statement is very profound and applicable to our lives. Let me explain how it is that for my life:

With all your heart:
This means my true and main desire in my heart should be running after Jesus Christ. All those other desires in my life, such as relationships, music, friendships, and career, all of these don’t matter compared to Jesus Christ. Yes, they are still important and we are still allowed to desire them. Jesus Christ needs to be the main desire. If He is not the main desire, our life will feel empty, incomplete, and worthless. We need Jesus Christ before we can have other desires in our heart.

With all your soul:
Our soul needs to yearn for our Savior, Jesus Christ. If you don’t have this yearning, there is something wrong. Maybe you don’t realize to your full capacity what Jesus Christ did for you. HE DIED ON THE CROSS FOR YOUR SINS, SO THAT YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO GO TO HELL FOR ETERNITY!!! NOW WE CAN SPEND ETERNITY WITH JESUS CHRIST WHEN HE CALLS US HOME!!!! I could scream that all the time. It’s a wonderful message!!! I’m so excited that Jesus did that for us and that I know where I am going when I die. I reflect this message in my positive attitude through life.

With all of your mind:
This is very important to me in my life. I struggle with depression and there are some days my mind doesn’t even want to work like it usually does. I am all of a sudden very negative, turning away from God, yelling at friends. It is a horrible place to be in. But through it all God is always there loving me the way I am. I have been working hard to try to love God with my mind, even through my depressive episodes.

With all of my strength:
This one is also very important to me in my life. I also live with the disorder called fibromyalgia. It is a chronic pain and fatigue disorder, so daily I deal with pain and fatigue. Someday I don’t have the strength to get through a day. The only reason that I survive a day is that I love God with my strength. I take my whole being and try to glorify him in every step. Praise God that he can sustain us.

Well, there are many points I can make about this quote, but I don’t want to make the blog super long. Maybe I will write another blog and go in more detail. We will see about that. I’m sorry that this blog is super late. I had a busy day today, but I got it up before Monday was over. Woohoo!!! Haha!

Something to remember from this whole blog. Ready for it? Here it is:

YOU NEED TO LOVE YOUR SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST WITH EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE.

Are you going to live that out? I definitely am.

I love comments. Comment below! :)

I said this quote like a couple weeks ago. I was so impressed by this certain quote that I decided to share it all with you. Here it is:

“I may break physically and mentally, but I will not break spiritually.”

For those who don’t know, I suffer with fibromyalgia (chronic pain and fatigue disorder) and depression. So daily I have to deal with the possibility of breaking down physically and mentally. This fallen world can take away my health and my sanity, but this fallen world cannot take away my faith.

Stay strong to your faith, even when everything else is falling apart. I know it is hard to deal with when you are in pain constantly and depressed a whole bunch. If I can do it through all my problems, you can do it too! LEAN ON JESUS TODAY!!!

If you have been regularly checking my blog, the guy in this video will probably look familiar. I did a blog post on another one of his videos. Check it out at this link: “Hate Religion, Love Jesus.” (http://kimberlyreitsma.blog.com/2012/02/16/hate-religion-love-jesus/)

Now watch this video:
http://jeffbethke.com/sex-marriage-fairytales-spoken-word/

Time to talk about sex, marriage, and fairytales. There are plenty of points that I want to elaborate on from this video.

First, we don’t know what reality is anymore. This is so true. Our society has changed our way of thinking. Women are waiting for their prince charming, and men are waiting for their damsel in distress. That is not how love works. Movies, music, TV shows, and the rest of society has warped our idea of the reality of love and relationships. GET BACK TO REALITY, PEOPLE!!!!

Second, he said, “Dating feels like a vacation, while marriage seems like a job.” This is what the common belief is when it comes to relationships. “Dating” can be fun and not a lot of work. But when couples have that mindset and then get married, they are surprised by all the work they have to do to keep the marriage alive. Here is the truth. Pay attention because this is important: RELATIONSHIPS TAKE A LOT OF WORK. If you are not willing to do all the work, you shouldn’t be in a relationship to begin with.

Third, God is most important. We shouldn’t elevate our relationships higher than Him. That is pretty much the key when it comes to life. If we elevate certain aspects of our lives above God, things start to fall apart quickly. We can’t handle our lives on our own. We need God in order to keep our life stable.

Fourth, Jesus needs to be at the center of every relationship. This is like the third point, but more directed towards relationships. If Jesus is not the foundation of your relationship, it will fall apart quickly. You and your boyfriend/girlfriend need to have your eyes totally focused on Jesus when you walk through your relationship. Your relationship needs to be glorifying God in every way.

Fifth, we care more about pleasure than commitment. I can totally agree with this point. There was a point in my life where I cared more about pleasure that commitment. This mindset got me no where in my life. It just turned me into a very cynical and bitter person. I don’t want that for you. Pleasure is meaningless. Commitment is key. Commitment plus God is the equation for true happiness in your relationships.

Sixth, he says, “Become friends first, not lovers.” Can I get an amen for this point? (AMEN! Thank you random person!) In our society, dating totally skips the friendship stage of a relationship. You need to be good friends with a certain person before considering to date them. Find out who they really are. Find out what they like. Find out what they are passionate about. That is what the friendship stage is for.

Seventh, he says, “Pursue Jesus as your foundation.” This is just like the fourth point. Jesus needs to be the foundation of your life. If you don’t have Jesus as your foundation, your relationship will crumble just like the man who built his house on the sand. Be like the man who built his house on the rock!

Eighth, when you get married, you say vows. You need to honor those vows until the day you die. You need to follow this rule. I plan to follow my vows when I get married in the future. They are vows. It’s like an oath you will keep forever. Value those vows.

Ninth, he says, “It’s not the love that sustains the promise. It’s the promise that sustains the love.” In a relationship, there will be days where you don’t particularly “love” the person that you are with. But you made a commitment to them, so you are going to stick it out. Love is not based on feelings. It is based on a promise that you make to each other. There are always going to be ups and downs in a relationship. It’s not always going to be perfect.

Tenth, marriage is the portrayal of God’s love for us. We are Jesus’ bride. One day, Jesus is going to come down from heaven and take his bride. I cannot wait for that day. We will all be celebrating at the wedding feast one day in the new earth. Woohoo!

Eleventh, he says, “Some guys propose on a knee, Jesus proposed on a cross.” Jesus, when took on our of our sins, and said, “I am going to die for you” – that is the ultimate proposal. Too many people in this world are rejecting that proposal. Are you accepting that proposal? I know I am. Jesus, I am yours! :)

Twelfth, he says, “You don’t fall out of love, as much as you fall out of repentance.” When we are in relationship with God, we never fall away from his love. That is the one thing that is different from humanly relationships. Human relationships may fail, but the relationship with God will never fail. You may run away from him, tell him you hate him, or treat him badly; but God is NEVER going to leave you or forsake you. He is ALWAYS going to be there for you. He is ALWAYS going to love you. He is ALWAYS going to save you.

I hoped some of these points spoke to you. Please comment below and tell me which point spoke to you the most and why? Have a fabulous day!