…as a note.  As requested by a certain Miss Hatem, I have added a search engine to the blog.  That should work.  =P

But yes.  This is the last of the Dear Diary Trilogy.  I hope you enjoy it.  ^_^

MUSIC CREDITS:
00:04 – “I’ve Seen Hell” (Martin Phipps)
01:06 – “Like A Dog Chasing Cars” (Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard)
02:58 – “Pieces” (RED)
04:14 – “Tia Dalma” (Hans Zimmer)
05:12 – “Lay Down Your Arms” (Everett, available on Come&Live! Records)

=P

MUSIC CREDITS:
00:00 – Why So Serious? (Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard, from The Dark Knight)
01:11 – North and South Theme (Martin Phipps)
02:05 – In the Dolphin Tank (Port Blue)
03:17 – Marilyn (Corpus Christi)
03:26 – Lay Down Your Arms (Everett, available on Come&Live Records)

James 1:2
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”

Personally, I don’t like trials.  Trials tend to hurt, and no one truly likes hurting, whether that pain is physical or emotional.  Sometimes one will inflict physical pain upon themselves as a method of coping with emotional pain, but again, the resolve is to cope with pain.

Because this verse is in the Bible, and I try to live according to the Bible, I have tried to apply it to my life.  However, I had always viewed the verse as a decree that one should always be optimistic.  As if the Christian should always be smiling, rejoicing, and happy.  I’ve thought about that, and it doesn’t seem to make sense.  Being annoyingly optimistic is typically taken as arrogance, which doesn’t line up with Scripture at all, so said needless optimism can’t possibly be what this verse talks about.

More recently, I’ve explored the context of the passage, and what comes after the puzzling nature of verse two.  Verses three and four elaborate on the strangeness of the second.

James 1:2-4
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

So we are to consider it joy when we are tried because we will be tempered towards perfection.  Towards becoming more and more like Christ.  This is a comfort.  As Christians, our goal should be to mirror Christ and his love.  To show Jesus to the world.

But sometimes this goal isn’t easy.  Sometimes it’s painfully difficult.  In this world, trouble is certain.  Inevitable.  The world is fallen, and far from perfect. Trials come.  We are tempted.  Troubles grow.  In all of this chaos and pain, it seems so tempting to give up, give in, and live a life of mediocrity – succumbing to the ease of sin.

It is true that we are small and weak, and it’s okay to feel that way.  We can try to feel confident.  We may try to feel brave.  But trying to feel a certain way can be a problem.  As CS Lewis stated in his novel, The Screwtape Letters:

“Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce FEELINGS there, by the action of their own wills. When they meant to ask Him for Charity, let them instead start trying to manufacture charitable feelings for themselves – and not notice that this is what they are doing.

“When they are meant to pray for courage, let them really be trying to FEEL brave. When they say they are praying for forgiveness, let them be trying to FEEL forgiven. Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feelings, and NEVER let them suspect how much success or failure of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at the moment.”

We are small; we are weak, and we can’t truly make ourselves any bigger or stronger.  We are not capable of doing things on our own.  This leads to another puzzling verse in 2^nd Corinthians.

2nd Corinthians 12:10
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

People don’t like being weak, much less confessing to being weak.  But yet, in our weakness, God has the space to be strong.  To sustain us.  Truly, when we think we’re carrying ourselves, the truth is simply that He’s still carrying us, as He gave us the ability to try to do it on our own.  But we find, after trying to overcome by ourselves, that it is impossible, and we are tempted to give up.

2 Timothy 2:3
“Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus”

2 Timothy 2:12
“if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;”

2 Timothy 4:5
“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

Apparently, Timothy was having a difficult time in his life, and Paul told him to endure, and endure, and endure still.  We are compared to soldiers, either being a “good” soldier, or a “bad” soldier, and this is indicated by endurance.  If we do endure, we are promised that we will reign with God, but if we don’t, as verse twelve continues, we will be disowned.  Abandoned.  This is the promise of enduring hardship: “If you endure, you will reign with Him.”

But what to do with temptation?  Life is hard, I am tempted, and the world wearies me.  Enduring hardship is painful, it hurts, and sometimes it seems easier to just give up.  Pushing through what seems to be impossible is so tiring.  But what has the Word to say about this?

Luke 22:46
“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

1 Corinthians 10:13
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

It is possible to endure, and you are able to.  God is faithful.  He believes in you; He won’t let you drown.  Get up and pray.  Trials come and troubles happen, but you can endure them.

But what about pure joy?  How can I be joyful when I’m being tempted and broken?  I know that I can endure this and pull through, but how can I rejoice?

We know that God doesn’t tempt us.  No bad thing can come from the One who is the definition of goodness.  So we can then conclude that temptation comes from the enemy.  Why would the enemy tempt us?  Why should he care?  He tempts us because he is afraid.  He’s afraid of what God might use us for, so he tries to bring us down.  To break us down.  To devastate us.  To bring us to a place of hopelessness where we are truly useless.  He wants to bring us to a place where we think that it is impossible to endure, and that it’s better to just give up.

This accomplishes his purpose to hinder the growth of the kingdom.  If we are so absorbed in how hard it is and what we can’t do, we will be unable to further the Kingdom of God.  We won’t be able to accept the plans God has for us – the plans to prosper us.  The enemy wants to bring us down so that we can’t see what God has in store for us, because God has big plans, and if we are too blind to see them, they’ll slip right past us.

We should rejoice when we are tempted because we know that God has something in store for us that the enemy wants to prevent.  We can take joy in that.  In God’s continued love, support, and faithfulness.

Psalm 71:14
“But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.”

Come&Live Video

MUSIC CREDITS:
Tia Dalma (Hans Zimmer)
Too Much Fighting (Voices of the Lifesteam Soundtrack, available on ocremix.com)
Dinner is Served (Hans Zimmer)
Lay Down Your Arms (Everett, available on Come&Live Records)

When modesty is discussed, it is likely that the same concepts and thrown about over and over again.  As I have researched and listened, I have found that very little substance has been used to back up the claims of “You should wear more clothes!” “Bikinis and short shorts are sinful!” “You should never show off that much skin!” and so forth.  I’d heard it said that somewhere in the Bible there is a verse regarding covering one’s limbs, but I searched, and the only verse I could find regarding limbs related the story of someone being cut into pieces, so I don’t think that’s very applicable.

I have a keen interest in fashion design, and this has prompted me to look into this topic of modesty.  Why is it such a big deal?  Who created the boundaries?  What are those boundaries?  What is modesty anyway?

So what is modesty?  According to Merriam Webster, modesty is:

“(1)freedom from conceit or vanity; (2) propriety in dress, speech, or conduct”

Dress, clothing in general, is only mentioned once in the definitions.  From this, we can conclude that, while modesty does include clothing, it goes far beyond simple fashion, encompassing other aspects of our daily lives.  The dictionary is a secular book, though, and we can’t go to it for the answers to our spiritual questions, so we look to Scripture.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1^st Samuel 16:7 doesn’t directly refer to modesty, but it is closely related to the topic.  The verse discusses that the outside isn’t as important as the inside, converting the issue of modesty from being something outward to being something internal.  Looking at this, in connection to the earlier definition, we find that there should be more stress on “freedom from conceit and vanity” than on how we dress.

Modesty isn’t a “dress code for morality” or a “holy fashion statement.”  It’s not a series of measurements describing that a skirt has to be so long, or a neckline so high.  Modesty shouldn’t be a code of conduct or a clothing catalogue; instead, it should become a way of living – a way to be.

So we’ve come across what modesty isn’t, and we have hinted at what it should be.  Modesty is propriety is dress, speech, and conduct.  It’s about being in one’s place.  The world acts in such a way as to attract attention to itself.  Immodesty is founded in selfishness – it’s about “me.”  In its essence, immodesty aspires to move the focal point from being upon God to being on the flesh.

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Modesty, therefore, is about reflecting focus from the self to God.  It’s about being a mirror.  The world lives for itself, wallowing in simple hedonism, in what feels good – in what feeds the flesh.  This could form itself in many ways, not simply in physical appearance, but also in ambition, wealth, and whatever else feels good but doesn’t satisfy.  Modest contrasts this, living instead for God and bringing him glory.

You see, modesty is so much deeper than merely a fashion choice.  When someone is modest, her focus ceases to be about make other people see her as something special or attractive and turns to reflecting Christ to the world.  For the Christian, the spotlight shouldn’t be on us, but on God, and God isn’t mirrored through sensually themed dress – the flesh is. That is why clothing is an issue in the modesty discussion.

With this in mind, we have to ask ourselves the question, “So what?  What should I do with this?”  We can have head-knowledge, but without action, it means very little.  However, Scripture addresses this as well.

1 Timothy 2:9 (NLT)

“And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes.”

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)

“Your beauty should not come from 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.”

In these verses, women are being instructed not to focus on their outward appearances in attempts to make themselves appear more extravagant.  They are told not to wear braided hair or fancy, expensive clothes so as to not draw attention to themselves, because truly, their beauty lies within (recall 1 Samuel 16:7).  These verses are directed towards women, but they hold truth for men as well.  They’re universal.  The point is “don’t dress in such a way that would attract attention to you in the flesh.”  This can be further expanded to include conduct – how one acts – which would even further include men.

1 Peter 2:12 (NLT)

“Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.”

We must watch ourselves.  How we do things.  We are ambassadors to the world, showing Who God is, and we must live in such a way as to reflect Christ, because the world’s perception of God is defined by how he reflect Him.  We have to create and maintain a good reputation, so that Christ is honoured.  Our actions should align themselves with Scripture, showing selflessness, temperance, and humility.  We should put Christ and others above ourselves, and remember that we were bought with a price, and that when we selfishness search for personal attention, we are feeding the flesh, and starving the spirit.

Our clothing should be such that we aren’t trying to make ourselves look any more attractive or appealing to the world.  It isn’t about us.  Now, looking nice isn’t a sin, in fact, it is truly important.  Remember, we are supposed to live in a way that the world cannot accuse us of doing wrong.  If we were to dress as if we didn’t care about appearance, we could be accused of sloth and ignorance, but if we dress too well – always chasing the best styles and the newest trends, outshining all of those surrounding us, we can more easily be accused of arrogance, pride, and conceit.  We must maintain a balance, but that medium isn’t stressful if we are truly striving to reflect Christ.  It’s not that difficult.

In closing, we come to the place where we must realize that modesty isn’t a ratio of how much covered/uncovered skin a person show, but rather, the reason behind why she shows it, which is based in selfishness.  If her motives weren’t based upon the self then wearing probably wouldn’t be inherently wrong (there are other factors, but we’ll keep it here).  Additionally, men are not excluded from modesty, because it does go beyond “how much skin you show.”

We should dress respectfully; smart, together, and with class.  Not stooping to clothing generally associated with sexual subcultures, but also not dressing in what people could call “lazy.”  We should dress in way to give God a good name, and a good reputation, because we are his bride, and we’re not to disgrace Him in how we dress.

I’ll leave it up to you to choose how to dress – I’m not making laws, I’m just opening a discussion.  So please: discuss.  I’d love to hear your feedback.

Thank you for reading.

Or you can link to it with this link:

Run Away or Die