Dear Friend,
We are gearing up for our D.R.E.A.M. Conference! This annual conference takes place in a very elite setting, and is designed to host 50 young ladies from various backgrounds. D.R.E.A.M. is the acronym for: Damsels Revisiting Expectations and Motives. The word damsel is defines as; a girl or young unmarried woman, originally one of noble birth. We mentor our girls from 1Peter
2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The question we use to guide our girls in considering their own purpose in life is; “What reason do you take up space on this earth, consume its resources, breathe its air and do so for all the years of your life?" When the girls seek to answer that question honestly, we observe their world opening up and they are becoming fully aware of God's purpose for creating them in the first place. To help answer this very complex and profound question we go over several statements in Scripture that helps provide guidance. Isaiah
43:7 says, “Every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” In this conference, we make sure each girl understands that God
created mankind for His own glory, for His own purpose. Face it; most people go through life without any concept that this is fully God's intent for EVERY individual whom He created. People tend to live lives that are fully intended to fulfill entirely their own desires, striving to get all that is
possible out of this life for their own benefit, only to find that the gathering of the things of this world do not satisfy that deep and basic need for purpose. The reason for this frustration is simple. When we live a life for our own purposes, we never accomplish anything greater than ourselves. However, when we understand that we were not created for our own purpose, but for God's purpose, we find that we are designed to accomplish something far greater than ourselves: serving and glorifying the God who
created us. We answer a couple of very serious questions the girls have. The main questions they ask are; why would anybody desire to serve God?
Why would we want to be obedient to a God who teaches us to think of others before ourselves? We explain, when you truly understand what God has done for you, serving Him is not a difficult task, but rather an only option that brings true and lasting peace, lifting our lives out of our self-centered existence to a life of ministry that
is far greater than ourselves. First we discuss
How to live a life that pleases God? Deuteronomy 10:12-13 says, “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day for thy good?”
In this passage, the first imperative is to fear the
LORD, a command that instructs us to fully learn who God is, and by so doing, recognize Him for the awesome and wonderful God that He is, responding in an attitude of profound respect and love towards Him. Not until we have done this can we truly walk in all his ways, living a life that is
obedient to Him, doing so because we love him and desire to serve the Lord with all of our heart and ... soul. If this is our response to God, obedience is not characterized by trying to follow a rule book, but rather it is a spontaneous
characteristic of our sincere desire to please Him. As a young girl my desire was to please my mama, so my response was obedience. No rule book was needed. Likewise when we seek to obey God, we will keep the commandments of the LORD as our nature changes from a self-centered and lost soul to one who loves the Lord and seeks to obey Him out of our love for
Him. As we do this we find God's purpose in our
life. A life that is lived in obedience to God will be abundant in the things that matter: peace, love, joy, etc. There is no inference here that
abundance refers to monetary gain, or mammon. Actually, we can see from limitless examples that abundance in the things of this world does not bring peace, love, joy, etc. It is only through obedience to God, inspired by our love for Him, that we will realize our true purpose in life. 1
Thessalonians 4: 2-6 says, “For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That
every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that
the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.” Here Paul clearly states some of what is clearly God's will for us; specific direction for two areas of our lives that are clear and simple. Based on the authority of Jesus' teaching, first it is God's will that we be saved. Stated as even your sanctification,
before anyone can please God, they must turn their lives over to Him (Hebrews 11:6). Without salvation, man does not have the seal of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and will be exposed at the final judgment when those whose names are not written in the "Lamb's Book of Life," will be separated from God for eternity. Without salvation, all men are doomed to eternal separation from God. A person can go through their lives appearing to be good in every way, yet fail to please God in any way because of their lack of true faith.
In closing, God's purpose for us is not finished at the point of salvation; it is just getting started. Sanctification is both an event and a process.
It is an event that takes place once in an individual's life when they turn their heart and life over to the LORD in faith. From that point on, though we still struggle with sin, we stand before God without sin because of the work of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. It is not our righteousness that brings us to the throne of God, but rather the righteousness of Jesus. Sanctification is also a process. Our own righteousness is like "filthy rags." However, it is God's purpose that His children repent of their sinful lifestyle and grow in the righteousness that is demonstrated in
their lives. Jesus was illustrating this necessity for following God's will when he said in Matthew
7:21. “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven.” We are called to a life of holiness. Our lives have been separated out from this lost world for God's purpose, not our own. God's purpose is holy, and likewise we are to be holy.
Let’s pray:
“Heavenly Father, make me a vessel of honor and an instrument of righteousness for your namesake, amen!”
A Simple Nugget:
“Live without pretending, love without depending, listen without defending,
speak without offending!”
FYI: Never give someone the opportunity
to waste your time twice!!!
All my love and prayers,
Minister Dorothy King
We are gearing up for our D.R.E.A.M. Conference! This annual conference takes place in a very elite setting, and is designed to host 50 young ladies from various backgrounds. D.R.E.A.M. is the acronym for: Damsels Revisiting Expectations and Motives. The word damsel is defines as; a girl or young unmarried woman, originally one of noble birth. We mentor our girls from 1Peter
2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The question we use to guide our girls in considering their own purpose in life is; “What reason do you take up space on this earth, consume its resources, breathe its air and do so for all the years of your life?" When the girls seek to answer that question honestly, we observe their world opening up and they are becoming fully aware of God's purpose for creating them in the first place. To help answer this very complex and profound question we go over several statements in Scripture that helps provide guidance. Isaiah
43:7 says, “Every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” In this conference, we make sure each girl understands that God
created mankind for His own glory, for His own purpose. Face it; most people go through life without any concept that this is fully God's intent for EVERY individual whom He created. People tend to live lives that are fully intended to fulfill entirely their own desires, striving to get all that is
possible out of this life for their own benefit, only to find that the gathering of the things of this world do not satisfy that deep and basic need for purpose. The reason for this frustration is simple. When we live a life for our own purposes, we never accomplish anything greater than ourselves. However, when we understand that we were not created for our own purpose, but for God's purpose, we find that we are designed to accomplish something far greater than ourselves: serving and glorifying the God who
created us. We answer a couple of very serious questions the girls have. The main questions they ask are; why would anybody desire to serve God?
Why would we want to be obedient to a God who teaches us to think of others before ourselves? We explain, when you truly understand what God has done for you, serving Him is not a difficult task, but rather an only option that brings true and lasting peace, lifting our lives out of our self-centered existence to a life of ministry that
is far greater than ourselves. First we discuss
How to live a life that pleases God? Deuteronomy 10:12-13 says, “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day for thy good?”
In this passage, the first imperative is to fear the
LORD, a command that instructs us to fully learn who God is, and by so doing, recognize Him for the awesome and wonderful God that He is, responding in an attitude of profound respect and love towards Him. Not until we have done this can we truly walk in all his ways, living a life that is
obedient to Him, doing so because we love him and desire to serve the Lord with all of our heart and ... soul. If this is our response to God, obedience is not characterized by trying to follow a rule book, but rather it is a spontaneous
characteristic of our sincere desire to please Him. As a young girl my desire was to please my mama, so my response was obedience. No rule book was needed. Likewise when we seek to obey God, we will keep the commandments of the LORD as our nature changes from a self-centered and lost soul to one who loves the Lord and seeks to obey Him out of our love for
Him. As we do this we find God's purpose in our
life. A life that is lived in obedience to God will be abundant in the things that matter: peace, love, joy, etc. There is no inference here that
abundance refers to monetary gain, or mammon. Actually, we can see from limitless examples that abundance in the things of this world does not bring peace, love, joy, etc. It is only through obedience to God, inspired by our love for Him, that we will realize our true purpose in life. 1
Thessalonians 4: 2-6 says, “For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That
every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that
the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.” Here Paul clearly states some of what is clearly God's will for us; specific direction for two areas of our lives that are clear and simple. Based on the authority of Jesus' teaching, first it is God's will that we be saved. Stated as even your sanctification,
before anyone can please God, they must turn their lives over to Him (Hebrews 11:6). Without salvation, man does not have the seal of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and will be exposed at the final judgment when those whose names are not written in the "Lamb's Book of Life," will be separated from God for eternity. Without salvation, all men are doomed to eternal separation from God. A person can go through their lives appearing to be good in every way, yet fail to please God in any way because of their lack of true faith.
In closing, God's purpose for us is not finished at the point of salvation; it is just getting started. Sanctification is both an event and a process.
It is an event that takes place once in an individual's life when they turn their heart and life over to the LORD in faith. From that point on, though we still struggle with sin, we stand before God without sin because of the work of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. It is not our righteousness that brings us to the throne of God, but rather the righteousness of Jesus. Sanctification is also a process. Our own righteousness is like "filthy rags." However, it is God's purpose that His children repent of their sinful lifestyle and grow in the righteousness that is demonstrated in
their lives. Jesus was illustrating this necessity for following God's will when he said in Matthew
7:21. “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven.” We are called to a life of holiness. Our lives have been separated out from this lost world for God's purpose, not our own. God's purpose is holy, and likewise we are to be holy.
Let’s pray:
“Heavenly Father, make me a vessel of honor and an instrument of righteousness for your namesake, amen!”
A Simple Nugget:
“Live without pretending, love without depending, listen without defending,
speak without offending!”
FYI: Never give someone the opportunity
to waste your time twice!!!
All my love and prayers,
Minister Dorothy King