Shew thyself Approved

Sunday July 28th, 2014


2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

When I ask many of the youth I come across, if or how they study the bible these are many of their responses:

1. "I don't need to read the bible."  This translates to them feeling they have read enough of the bible and that most of the scriptures they have not memorized, will magically appear in their spirit or mind. Although God is not a magician, they feel meditating on the Word of God(Joshua 1:8), a commandment by God,  doesn't apply to them. 

The sad truth is the verse that God could use to quicken them through out the day, these people will never receive because they have not taken the time to open Gods words and receive something from it.

2. I haven't read it yet today. I only read it at night. This translates to they have not made or don't plan to make adequate time for the Lord, who they may or may not acknowledge. Just like above, to have the Lord dwell richly in our hearts(Colossians 3:16) we must commune with Him through out the day. For God to communicate with us, to truly help us every step of the way, in both our happy and weak times we must read His words in the Bible and pray them in during the day and at night. That is why God also tells us in the very beginning of  the book of Psalm written by a man, God himself classified as a man after His own heart,

Psalm 1:2

 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3. Lastly, I am too tired and I just don't have time to read the bible. Reading the bible, like choosing to wake up, go somewhere, go to work, doing anything, is a Choice. You can choose to follow and worship Jesus today or choose to not. If you don't make time to read the bible you will not. As a believer in Christ, our lifeline to God is reading the bible and praying. There is no way around it. To become as strong in faith like Abraham, Ruth, Paul, Esther, John the baptist, and so many great man and woman of God is by reading and taking up the ways of the bible that has been put together for us to read plus,

2 Timothy 3:16

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

For those curious on why the bible is a text that holds validity. You can read about it's historical credibility HERE  and HERE . You can also watch a very well versed theologian explain it's historical credibility. Plus you can see the manifestation of how the words of the Bible holds true in the lives of myself and many others who have been converted and live a life sold out to Jesus Christ.

Now that we have helped those who were on the fence of believing if the bible was credible enough, let's talk about why many people in my generation find it so hard to read the bible. Many desire to, but when they want to create time something else takes their attention. The answer is simple, its one of the above three excuses, but it's also because there is a spiritual battle for your soul. The Lord reaches out to bring you on His side and  the dark forces also want you to be pulled to their side! The bible talks so much about how the youth will become tired, and weak; these then are the times the dark forces will come and steal the desire to read the only book where you can gain both wisdom and eternal life!

Isaiah 40:30-31

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

Ecclesiastes 12:1

 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Psalm 119:9

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

Personal story. I grew up with parents, but a mother who loved the Lord and so I was a church kid(till a parent left the church at 14, and I had a choice whether or not to go, another story). I read the bible growing up and was encouraged to, but when you give your life to the Lord and become Born Again you have to re-read and re-learn everything in the word  because you have a measure of the Holy Spirit in you! The Holy Spirit now helps you truly understand the scriptures and apply it to your specific life situation or for wisdom in the future. So, I was assigned to first read John, the most practical of the gospels. I went home that Sunday I received Jesus so fired up to the read the word. Then I opened the bible so ready to devour it but the devil started fighting. I couldn't concentrate. So then "I prayed Lord help me concentrate, I want to Learn who You are." Then the Lord put it in my spirit out of no where to watch the story of John, while listening to the King James Version(my favorite version of the bible) So I go on YouTube search "Book of John movie" or something very close, and end up reading and studying the book of John the entire night through a dramatization, while taking notes. I then proceeded the next day to read the other three gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke while listening to them audible(didn't need the video ) and writing down what the Lord was speaking to me each time. I found a way for me to be able to inject the word of God into my soul. Now, I am able to read the bible without any audio or movie, and even music because I have grown a deep love for the text. I just bask in the Holy Spirit speaking to me with silence around me. Just as God showed me ways that worked for me, He will show you too.

Now how does my morning routine go? I battled early on with picking up my phone first before the bible. I always remembered to pray and thank God for waking me up, but I wanted the Word of God to be what I consumed next. Putting my phone somewhere far wasn't working either. That annoyed me. Like many of us we like our phones close to us. I too had always kept the physical bible under my pillow, but because I was again picking my phone up, this is what I now do. I downloaded the bible app on my phone and put the verse of the day widget, they also have a full long text bible reading widget and placed it on the screen I see once I click my phones unlock button. So when I unlock my phone the Verse of the day is what I see first! I memorize it and that's the verse I choose to mediate on through out the day. Quiet time doesn't necessarily have to be right after you wake up, but you want to inject something from the word before you leave your house, or really interact with family. Because someone is waiting to test you! You want to pass that test! People may not read the bible but they read us and our reactions!  At night I am really tired, so instead of forcing myself to read a long passage. God favors a little too. I downloaded the "Uplifting Psalms" app, which randomizes Psalms and I read one and pray the words in and go to bed. It's been a blessing.  

The Bible app also has:
  • Bible Reading Plans
  • Devotionals
  • Over 20 Translations of the bible in English
  • Other language translations
  • Audio voice-overs on most translations
You can also choose to pick a devotional to read in the morning. My church sells Higher Everyday youth and adult devotionals. I personally will read these devotionals later on in the day after I have read the bible and gotten my own revelation and interpretation from the God himself, free from mans opinions. You gotta own your own walk in Christ, God will judge you solo.
Aside from quiet time, I regularly will read my physical bible through out the day or read the bible on my app. I also carry my physical bible everywhere with me. Mine is a little big, so I would recommend a nice travel size. It's also great to be able to use to witness to anyone God allows you to come across during the day, so you two can look at the word together. The phone may not be big enough. Plus I see the physical bible as my literal sword. Not sure if anyone heard of the man who escaped a bullet to his heart, due to his bible being in his shirt pocket...YES! God is so real and so good! I also have Jesus outings, where I take my bible and journal and go to the movies, have a picnic, do my favorite things and read! It's precious. I also don't miss my church's bible studies. If you want to grow in the word of God you have to learn from people who God has raised up to teach the bible. God tells His leaders special revelations. I have really grown. I also do the Proverbs challenge, everyday. I love gaining wisdom and Proverbs is the book of wisdom. On the numerical date of the day, I would read the chapter of Proverbs. So on July 28th, I would read Proverbs 28 and meditate on it. I also read parts of the bible I find comfort in, and read a pattern of books and chapters the spirit is yielding me to read. 
So Practical ways to help you read the bible and get devotional(Quiet time) with God, day and night:
  • Find a bible study or follow mine HERE, which gets posted every Monday night
  • Download Pandora, set the alarm option to wake up to a station with your favorite gospel artist, to get you in the mood to read the bible.
  • Start with worship music before reading the bible
  • Download Uplifting Psalms and Uplifting Proverbs app.

  • Put scriptures on your phone and computer backgrounds.
  • Set apart a day or time where you can get deep in the word. 
  • Buy a study bible you enjoy, KJV(closest version to the truth), to get insight.
    • (KJV Relationship Bible)
  • Always have a journal, laptop, tablet, or phone to take notes while reading.
It's important to note, before you start reading the bible we must invite God in and ask for His help in gaining revelation. We must pray before we read. Always.

Hope this helps to the many who have asked me how I study the bible and for those on a journey to read and understand the bible in its entirety. God will expect all Christians to know every word in the bible on judgement day.

Reading the word is doable, can be enjoyably and while reading it shows us our reflection. My prayer is we will allow God's reflection to be our reflections. God Bless you for reading.


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A LOST VIRTUE

Thursday July 10, 2014


The content in this blog will change your life. It changed mine. Read with an open heart.




I was once that girl. That stuffed those pair of short shorts deep in her bag, walked out the house in an ok modest outfit, knowing quite well as soon as she was at a distance, she would find a way, to put on those way too short shorts. To experience what she felt was temporary,liberating freedom. For me they exemplified my already full thighs and behind at just the age of 13.

 Ok so, I only remember doing that one time. Still, it wasn't ok. Quite frankly it was wrong of me to do.
Often times I was bold about my immodest outfits. Wearing shirts that were too low and if peoples eyes directed themselves to my chest, what could I say? It was out there for them to see. So I couldn't say anything. I would wear pants that were way too tight or too short that my entire lower extremities were outlined with nothing left to even imagine. My body, to put it plainly in the clothes I wore, was all out there.

 This blog is on modesty, a very lost virtue. It's not on the modesty you may know or have read. It will give you incite on if we HAVE to wear clothes, what types of clothes God truly wants us to wear  and appearance he wants us to keep. Modest apparel not only honors God, but  shows honor to ourselves so in turn others can respect us.



Proverbs 3:15

She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

If no one has ever told you, You are a treasure. A treasure that's more precious than rubies. A treasure of any worth or value is kept hidden and covered.  That's how precious you are in the sight of the Lord as a daughter of His. God values his treasures, and therefore He wants to cover us, keep us hidden, and protect what He has made.   

 "Why does what we wear really matter? It's all about the heart with Christ Janet", you may ask. 


Well think about it.You have to dress everyday and the first few seconds someone new, or someone you've known approaches you.. naturally, they will judge you based on what you are wearing. We even have different sets of clothing for different venues and occasions. So why is it any different when it comes to God? God cares about it all. If he cares about what you eat or drink, he is definitely concerned about what we wear...

1 Corinthians 10

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.



The Lord started working on my dressing and appearance very early on in my walk with Him. It was actually within a week of becoming Born Again and surrendering my all to Jesus Christ, I had thrown out all of my pants, most of my makeup(giving this up took a little longer), low tops, and jewelry. Yes, even when I write about it and tell people, I still think this was a little extreme; But I was just listening to God speaking to me through the Holy Spirit and that's why I did it.

 A HUGE sin I struggled with before coming into Christ was sexual immorality. Making my boyfriends gods, not obeying Gods words on premarital sex and more. God revealed to me, a huge part of this struggle was how I dressed. I had no problem getting men of all ages to come up to me, because my body sold itself. The tights, jeans, pants that showed every curve from my butt, to my thighs and down, were all, many men needed to be enticed to ask for my number. I remember I would walk home from cheerleading practice in high school, with short tight cheerleading shorts on major streets, and just like you see in movies, men would honk, and some would stop. I am not sharing this story to boost, because to me its not boosting. The men that were coming up to me were no where near Gods standards. Their flesh lead them to pursue me, their flesh is what they wanted to please. You could tell it in their eyes and in their speech all they truely wanted was sex and it didn't matter what age I was.   Due to the worlds way of things, many females are flattered by these types of compliments when its consistent and often times will give into these men, I was no different. I choose to wear what I wore. This is the case for many of us females when it comes to immodest apparel, we choose to wear it not wanting to think of the downsides to it. 
So I become born again.
God then strips the appetite for sexual immorality from me and revels for me to continue in sexual purity and freedom in Him, I needed to change my wardrobe. I needed to put on what he prescribes for everyone of His precious daughters in 

1 Timothy 2:9

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness


I had to stop wearing booty shorts, low cut tops, skin tight maxi dresses, immodest pants, tights, jeans that seemed to always rip anyway, see through apparel and everything that I knew couldn't point anyone to Jesus. I got the strong conviction to go back to what God prescribed us woman to wear originally, beautiful skirts and dresses(Deuteronomy 22:5) Look up history and see what women were wearing just 50 years ago, not that long at all. I then had to learn how to dress in this new fashion. So I prayed earnestly that the Lord would help me dress to please Him. That God would help keep my body hidden for His eyes only and for my future husbands eyes only. For God to not allow men that didn't deserve any part of me to come up to me. God heard my prayers and lead my now best friend into my life to encourage and teach me. She just happens to have a blog entitled modestic-elegance, all about modesty, which she has maintained for years now!( Love you Charity) Everywhere I go, people can tell I am different and peculiar. People come up to me and say you are the only female I have seen dress this way, that carefully covers her nakedness. People off the bat see the difference and when I speak as well they see the light of Christ truly resides in me.

Aside from my personal experience. God calls each and every one of His children to be modest. He knew exactly what he was doing, when he wrote that scripture. He tells us further in the bible that our body was made by him, therefore its His temple so what we wear must be ok with him. What we wear must cover our most intimate parts properly.What we wear must bring honor to Him and should point back to the heavens. Everyday, I include God in my outfit choice.I pray and check in with the spirit. "Is this outfit ok Lord? Is it too tight? Is it too revealing?" God always answers. Personally, I've had to take off somethings, or layer somethings while dressing, to the point my the Holy spirit will say "ok Janet you can leave the house now."

Modesty, is a lost virtue.

I threw out all my jewelry.Even the ones my boyfriend at the time gave me.  I understood what was meant by diamonds are a girls best friend when I would get a piece of jewelry I would never have bought myself. But I just gave my life to Christ  and I was now acknowledging because He died on the cross and gave me salvation, a new life, He was my all. That nothing could ever make me happier than Him.He started to show me,  how He made me was beautiful the way I was, naturally. The hair that grew on my head, the skin and color He gave me, the full lips, and the ears without any piercings, was the way He wanted me to be.  He showed me I was made in His own image.

Genesis 1:27

 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

He later, helped me understand how jewelry, along with anything that is highly esteemed over God, can become an idol. He makes this very known in Exodus 32 , where the Israelite are looking for a god to worship and therefore use jewelry which is presumed to be of high value to make a god. I saw in myself that I was getting way too consumed with the world's marketing on how I should look. That, those pieces of jewelry, or those pieces of weave was what would make me be the woman I ought to be. But rather Jesus made me the woman I was to be when he created me in the womb and when he died on the cross for me. God broke me down, stripped me of the world's idea of beauty and allowed me to own who I was naturally. This act comes with a conviction from God only. As woman, modesty calls us to not be dripping from bling to bling, calling attention to us in that way. Modesty calls us to know our jewels truly come from within and that our adorning of ourselves should come from our hearts. 
When we die, whats going to leave this  earth with us? Our jewelry? No! Nothing except our souls. You are truly beautiful just the way you are. That is modesty.


Modesty is truly a very lost virtue in our generation. God has so many practical tips on what He wants us woman to do in His words. A lot of women are receiving attacks in their academics, work life, spiritual life, marital life, family life, and relationships  due to their immodest apparel, their standard of beauty  that comes from this world, and true lack of peace of the beauty God gave them originally.It's only if we, only if you beautiful sister could see how beautiful and precious you are to God; so you can keep your treasure, your body from your feet to your head well covered. 


Some Really Practical Modesty tips:

1. If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.

2.If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.

3.If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.

4.If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

God cares about what we wear, how we look, and if our all is really  given to Him or partially belongs to this world.

 If you don't know Jesus and you are finding yourself stuck in admiring the fashions of this world, you are tired of how the fashion and urban models and pop stars portray themselves, I am inviting you to accept Christ into your heart. You just need to confess your sins, invite Christ in, and believe He is your Lord and savior. Once you start reading the bible, God will give you more knowledge and wisdom as it pertains to modesty. Modesty is a virtue that can truly be regain!

 I love you and I am praying for you.


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From your Sister in Christ ,

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