1 Timothy 2:12-13 "And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve."
I realize that in this blog in the past I have been teaching and stepping out of my place as a young woman. I sincerely repent and apologize for that to you all, and to Yahweh, and I am going to change, by only teaching girls and only writing articles aimed at girls.
I will be posting from now on here at my new blog: Yah's Girls Blog which is a blog aimed for girls in their fathers house. Of course, anyone is welcome to read my posts, but I will be aiming them primarily at girls.
Many of you who have talked to me before know I'm writing an adventure story called "The Ancient Cavern Secret". I would like to say that as of today, I have completed it! (Click here to go to the Story) Praise Yahweh!
I'm would like your opinion on it; critism or comments; you can contact me on my dad's chat room Sabbath evenings 9-12pm and 1st Day (Sunday) from 9-10am to 5pm CT. (www.eliyah.com/chat/) I would perfer to discuss it after Sabbath, and that's why I put up that specific time Sabbath evening. :)
Blessings to you all!
A fellow servant, Kara
P.S. I am currently looking for an affordable, talented illustrator to draw a realistic, colored picture for my front cover. If you are good at drawing realistically, (with color too, please) or know someone, please let me know on the chat room. Thank you! :)
1 Chronicles 29:13-14 "Now therefore, our Elohim, We thank You And praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You."
Last FOT was a beautiful gathering... it was the best feast I've ever had. Yahweh's blessing and peace was definitely on the whole feast!
This week I put together a picture/music video of the Feast, (I tried to get a pic of everyone in there... if I missed anyone, please tell me!) and it almost brought tears to my eyes with the memories! :)
The internet version isn't as quality as the real version, though some of the pics in the regular version aren't that good of quality either :/
The song is called "L-O-V-E" written and composed by Michael Castillo.
Well, Here you go... I hope you enjoy it!
Yahweh Bless you all!
A fellow servant,
Kara
Psalm 133:1-3 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there Yahweh commanded the blessing, even life for evermore."
I turned over casually and looked at my alarm clock I'd just turned off. 6:00. I listened for other signs of life in the house, but all I heard was my little sisters' normal breathing showing they were sleeping. I rolled over and fell back into the land of dreams.
I awoke with a start, and glanced around. It was still dark. What time is it? I wondered, looking up at my alarm clock.
Where's the light? Maybe I turned it around...
An eerie feeling enveloped me as I looked at the blank clock. I turned it, but there was no light anywhere.
Well, this week went pretty well. We looked at the site where we're planning to keep Passover, and it's pretty nice. There are some things that need to be worked out that are pretty important, but I know Yahweh has it all under control
Last time, I discussed the things we can do to show we love our friend, to care about them, and who we choose for a friend, ect. This week, I'll continue this article--this time talking about being loyal to our friend, correcting our friend, as well as accepting correction, and also confronting our friends.
One thing that I believe is really, really important in a friendship, is to be a tight confidant. If you say you won't tell anyone anything, don't tell anyone. Keep your word. Even the scriptures say in Proverbs the importance of it:
Proverbs 11:13 "A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter."
Proverbs 12:23 "A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness."
Proverbs 16:28 "A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends."
Proverbs 17:9 "He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends."
If our friend tells us they're struggling in an area, we don't need to go spread it to the world! I wouldn't like it if I told my friend I was struggling in an area, and they went and told all their friends. When it came back to me, I don't know if I would want to be friends with that person I told anymore (Though I certainly should go to them about it, and forgive them). If I am told a secret, and they ask me to keep it between us, it wouldn't hurt to do so--unless their salvation or physical safety is at stake. In that case, I would only tell their parents, and not all my friends. I don't need to get everyone into it.
Now the hard part of a friendship: Correction.
I admit, for me, it's hard to give or recieve correction. It's probably easier to give, but sometimes I get too sensitive and don't want to correct my friend for fear of hurting them, or them not liking me anymore. That, though, could be good, and could be bad. In the good, it could make me alot more careful and gentle when I do correct them, or keep me from unnecessary correction. In the bad, it could prevent me from correcting when I really need to correct.
Correction needs to be done humbly, gently, and kindly, with a great sensitivity to their pain. I need to know my friend enough to read their face and know if I hurt them with my correction. For example...(not a really serious case) if I had a friend that annoyed my mom by not doing the dishes right or whatever, I shouldn't come up and say, "Oh, you never do those dishes right. You're really getting on my mom's nerves, now. Watch me--this is how you do it..." No! I'm sure they would be really hurt and be like, "Okay, whatever, Kara. I'll just leave you and your mom's kitchen alone--you can do it!" (*chuckles*)
What I should do, is go to her and say, "You know, that's really nice that you help me out with the dishes, I really appreciate that. Could you please put those cups in this cabinet right here, instead of right next to the plates?" Or, offer to do the part she's not doing right, and she can watch me to see how I do it. That would be silent correction by my example.
Not only do we need to give correction right, but accept correction right. Let's say I was in the shoes of the friend I corrected wrong, and she comes to me, saying "Oh, you never do those dishes right. You're really getting on my mom's nerves now, Kara! Move over--I'll do it. Just watch me," I could either retort back with, "Okay fine! Do your dishes...I'm not going to help anymore!" Or I could bite my tongue and watch quietly, taking the pain patiently.
Number one, the first reaction wouldn't do any good--rather, it would cause much harm! And number two, it would just cause strife between me and my friend, not to mention possibly me and her mom! The second reaction, might not seem to do any good, but at least there's no strife between my friend and I (or her mom and I), and I could come to her later when she's not so upset and confront her about how she hurt me. Proverbs 15:1 says, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." It works!!
I also need to be careful not to get so bent out of shape when I'm corrected--kindly, or unkindly. (That's something I really need to work on!) If my friend corrects me, she's not telling me how bad of a person I am, but she's trying to show me a better way to do something. Though sometimes she may attack me as a person, I should patiently take it and pray about it, or confront her later.
Now, when my friend hurts me or wrongs me, I believe I have two options; I could confront her, and tell her how--in a gentle, humble way--she has hurt or wronged me. Or, I could take the pain patiently, and forgive her. If I do confront her, and she apologizes, I need to accept that and forgive her. If she doesn't apologize, and it turns out I'm wrong, I need to be humble enough to willingly accept that and apologize. If she doesn't apologize, or admit wrong, but justifies herself, I believe I should just accept it, and forgive her.
If it's serious enough, Yahushua gave a thorough explanation in Matthew chapter 18...first, go to my friend, and if she doesn't repent, take a trustworthy person with me to go to my friend again. If she still doesn't repent, well, take the whole assembly. And if that is to no avail, then, well, she's no longer a believer. Like I said, I believe this is for very serious occasions! Not every occasion is serious enough where it's a horrible sin toward another person where one might have to be kicked out of the assembly.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8b gives a pretty good definition of true love:
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
Is there a friend out there that's the perfect definition of love? Not on planet earth. But there is Someone who is our Friend who's the definition of love: Yahushua. He is the ultimate friend.
There are also other places in the scriptures where friendship is mentioned:
Psalms mentions friendship in chapter 15 verse 3, saying who shall dwell in Yahweh's tabernacle:
"He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend."
Proverbs also makes mention of a friendship type relationship several times:
Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
Proverbs 18:24 "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
Proverbs 27:6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
Proverbs 27:9 "Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel."
A friend is a great treasure; a wonderful thing to have. I love all of my friends, (which Yahweh has blessed me with many!) and though I'm not the perfect friend (I don't expect them to be either ), I still try to fulfill my place in our friendship I pray Yahweh Bless you and all of your friends as you walk in His ways this coming week! Shabbat Shalom!
A fellow servant, Kara
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 "Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
I'm sorry I've taken so long to really write anything in here...Had writer's block for a while, and couldn't think of anything! Well, Thankfully, it seems Yahweh gave me some inspiration for an article (with the help of a friend ), so today I'm writing .
For news, everything has been going well here...making plans for Passover, and looking forward to it! I hope we can have alot of people this time, as much as Feast of Tabernacles, if not more! That was awesome, and I pray this is another awesome feast
Recently, I've been pondering on True Friendship. I was talking with a friend of mine on the chat room on Sabbath, and they asked my thoughts on it--thus the birth of this article .
What is True Friendship? What is the meaning of True Friendship?
It takes two to be friends. And love, care, and interest in the other person must always be there, for a friendship to flourish.
Love means, to me, if I see a friend hurting, that I should sit down with them and ask what's wrong. If they refuse to answer, then I shouldn't push. Just lovingly wait for them to share within their own time. When/if they do share, I should listen patiently till they are finished, and then share with them what I feel led to share--or just wait till they ask my opinion. Many times someone may need to just talk about something to let it out--not asking advice, just to get it off their mind. In those times, I believe I need to listen patiently, looking into her eyes; and if needed, with an arm around her shoulder to show I really care. Listening does more than anything, I think. If I know someone is listening, I know they care.
Love also means going out of our way to do something for our friends. Say we're at a feast, and she's doing alot of the cooking for a meal for a get-together, or even for her family, I should be sensitive enough to see how tired she is. I also should care enough about her to go in and say, "Here, I can do it while you sit down and rest...just tell me what I need to do..." even though I may want to do something else at that moment. To me, that's real love and care for a friend.
Love what they love (to an extent, of course). Like, for example, if my friend had a cat, and the cat passed away, I need to love that cat as much as she did to really understand--and even then accept, if I've never had such a loss, that I cannot really understand. I need to be sensitive to her needs, to her feelings, and to her pain, to fully care and love her as I should. If she needs to cry, I need to let her. If she needs to be alone, I need to let her be alone. If she needs to talk about it, I need to let her talk about it and listen patiently.
Caring is tied in with loving a friend...true love is really caring about someone. Everything I mentioned above is caring. Being sensitive is pretty important for caring for a friend. If I care about her enough, I will be sensitive to her needs, feelings, and pain--as I said earlier. I need to also love her enough, if I have to, to lay down my life for her in a dangerous situation. The scriptures say in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends."
We need to encourage our friends as well. In Proverbs 12:25, it reveals the importance of encouraging a friend:
"Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad."
We need to love our friends enough to notice when they improve, and compliment them on it. Personally, it means a lot to me if I'm struggling in something, and my friend comes up, who knows I'm struggling, and instead of pointing out how I could do better, they say, "You're doing so much better, Praise Yahweh! Keep it up!" It means alot! So, I believe encouragement is very vital in a relationship. But, I should add, correction is also important. But it must be in love and gentleness, as well as sensitivity. I'll expound more on that in Part Two of this article.
I believe it's also important who we chose for a friend. Proverbs makes mention of that a few times:
Proverbs 12:26 "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray."
Proverbs 22:24 "Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go,"
Who we choose for a friend affects who we are. If I chose a person who had alot of problems and encouraged me in wrong-doing, I might soon have those very same problems, and start doing wrong-doing!
To the contrary, if I chose a friend who, though they had problems, they loved Yahweh and really tried to do what was right, and encouraged me in right-doing, I might begin to excel spiritually, and encourage my friend--thus a fruitful friendship!
Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."
I've experienced both types of friendships, and I tell you, the best is the latter! The friends we have can make or break positive character traits. They can ruin us, or strengthen us.
I pray Yahweh Bless you all...This Sabbath I'll go into Part Two of this article, as both together were too long! Shalom to you all!
I suppose it's been a question as to why I haven't posted in a while. Well, I would have posted last Sabbath, but due to internet problems, I was unable to. I'll try to post this Sabbath, Yahweh willing.
We're also in the grip of a terrific ice storm, so Dad's the only one who has internet using on of our phone lines for dialup. Otherwise, my family and I are doing well. And, to be honest, the ice storm is alot of fun! There's about 2-3 inches of ice on the ground, and our yard is one big pond we can 'skate' on with our shoes, . Haha. It looks like the whole outdoors--trees, bushes, plants, ect--are all encased in sparkling diamonds...it's so pretty!
Anyway, Yahweh BLess you all! I just thought I'd drop a note and let you all know how we're doing
A fellow servant, Kara
Job 38:22 "Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail,"
), so today I'm writing 
That was awesome, and I pray this is another awesome feast 
. Haha. It looks like the whole outdoors--trees, bushes, plants, ect--are all encased in sparkling diamonds...it's so pretty! 
