Followers of Christ
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I've been thinking of the women of the Bible a lot today. I'd love to hear what your favorite women/story of women in the Bible is! Can be more than one, dont have to have a favorite, I'm just curious!
candyhearts I love this question!! There’s so much nuance to these women; misunderstood, marginalized, but also fierce, resilient, and profoundly human. Hagar stands out to me!! The way she’s cast out into the wilderness with her son and then encounters G-d is so powerful. He saw her, truly saw her. That's real and beautiful.
Oct 5, 2024
alliyah Hagar is a fabulous answer. I'm also a big fan of the woman by the well and Mary the mother of Christ and Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus.
Oct 9, 2024
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Hey - just an open question without a 'correct' answer in mind, but one I hope we can engage in knowing that folks likely have different opinions on this.
It's October - > people are excited about Halloween ->How do you as a Christian observe or not observe "culturally traditional" Halloween festivities while still honoring your faith? Are there aspects of Halloween you stay clear from? Ways you honor things like "All Hallow's Eve" and "All Saints Day" instead? How about on YWS - does your Christian faith effect how you engage with things like "Spooktober"?
.... just some food for thought!alliyah
LadyMysterio Ooh good question! I don't really celebrate it. Not anymore, my family used to go tricker treating(only for like four years) , and while there's technically nothing "witchy" or "dark" about dressing up. Infact it started as a way to ward off the evil spirits. It just has such an atmosphere of evil and generally stuff I don't feel honours God. That we aren't doing it this year! I'm very curious to learn more about all saints day. Since that seems to focus on saying "go away!" To demons and evil spirits.
I do know that's lots of people love the spooky season, so I just tend to stay away from stuff, generally not really participating, while still giving others space.
Oct 2, 2024
alliyah Good point on the dressing up @LadyMysterio!
As a kid I certainly participated in a lot of good fun just dressing up / roaming the neighborhood getting too much candy. But I feel like there is a lot of celebration of darkness / evil / death / Satan / occult things during Halloween that I'm very leery of and try to stay away from. In addition to a lot of costumes being down right inappropriate in their own right with cultural appropriation and celebration of objectifying women / children. I also don't think there's a lot of value in glorifying gore / violence in horror films - I don't know... I watched a portion of a scary movie as a small child at a friend's home, and I still have the violent images in my head 20 years later - I don't think that's good or fun. And when I have kids am certainly going to be careful about the type of scary / violent media my kids consume because that's not great and it's all over.
I do celebrate Reformation Day (falls on last Sunday of October) - where I celebrate German heritage, faith heritage, and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. And I celebrate All Saints Day - which in my Lutheran Church we treat as sort of a memorial service for all those who've passed connected to the congregation in some ways. It's a good opportunity to remember those saints who've been influential in my life and those who've passed on the faith to me. I use it as a day to thank God, reflect / remember, and worship. We spend time in the cemetery during All Saints Day - decorating the graves from our church, and remembering those who have passed - and instead of being "spooky" or a "celebration of death" it's more a celebration of life and the life we have eternally in Christ Jesus.
On YWS @_@ I try not to review / participate much in things that seem satanic / occult / overly-violent just out of a desire to distance myself from the influence of those things. But very rarely do I see that popping up - it'd mostly just be like a random RP / story - I don't begrudge others participating in those things, but it's just not for me!
Oct 2, 2024
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Thinking about Joel 2:25, especially now that we are honing in on Joel in my theology class. "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten."
What a beautiful sentiment, a true show of the weight of G-d's promises. There's something so profound to me about the idea of restoration and the hope it brings after loss ~~ Time does heal all, and so does faith.
alliyah OH my gosh @candyhearts -> I actually did a whole NaPo (National Poetry Writing Month Thread) dedicated to that verse called the years the locusts ate - for me I was thinking of the year of covid (I spent 364 days without seeing my mother because of Covid, and about 500 days without seeing my father) - but also thinking of periods of heartbreak / loss too - > those times when we feel like we've lost our hearts or lost time with loved ones or just lost-out on what "could have been" - in some very real way, God will restore and heal and make more perfect. We may never be reunited with some folks on this side of the universe and yet in heaven... as the song Amazing Grace says, "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we'd first begun". It's a beautiful beautiful beautiful verse for anyone who has lost time or longed for more time. Praise God! Thanks for bringing it to mind!
// on another tangent -> I also think about this verse in context to ancestry a lot of times, that though some of my ancestors died young with hopes and dreams unrealized, in light of eternity and through the beauty of generational echoes and healing and heaven - their dreams and hopes may be realized by future generations. (The Israelites, I would say, could certainly connect to that sentiment, that though the first who left Egypt would never realize that promised land, their children would). God keeps his promises. Not in our time. But in His.
Oct 2, 2024
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I could go weeks without reading scripture and then sit down and read 1 chapter and suddenly I feel revived and alive again
Kaia <3333
Sep 11, 2024
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Sympathizing heavily with Lot's wife.
Lot's wife is told not to look back. She looks back. וַתְּהִ֖י—"and she became"—a pillar of salt. But וַתְּהִ֖י is in consecutive imperfect, which means that it’s not that she is rendered salt, or passively becomes salt in accident. Instead, it’s something she does, chooses, is active in. Lot's wife undoes herself this way.
G-d had never threatened a salt-body, anyway. He had said only that those who look back will fall right into the hole of the city. Lot's wife turned flesh into salt on her own accord, found ways to not die and yet to not live. It was completely intentional. I believe it was a true test of faith for her. It makes me think of times where my own faith has been tested, but I don't look back.
It's strikingly poetic. I have always felt that women in Biblical settings are written as one-dimensional, when they are in fact not. There is so much to be learned by the women that came before us. It speaks many unspoken words.
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Bible study has been amazing already! Tonight half of us broke down in tears because we got so in depth and real. And I felt such a presence there and with prayer and our group hug and I just feel so on fire for God after this and having a group of people to support me is so important. Would definitely recommend if you were thinking about starting one to go for it!
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Me and some girls are starting a book study every week and I am so excited!!!
gruzinkerbell That's going to be so fun! I hope you have an amazing time!
Aug 21, 2024
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Hello all, I wanted to follow up on a prayer request I posted in the chain on November 16, 2023, about my terrible skin picking.
I have good news that over the course of this year, I have stopped skin picking. This goes for legs and face. My legs have cleared up a lot, but I still have some ingrown hairs. I do not know exactly how, but my need for skin picking dwindled away. I believe I just began to become too preoccupied with other things to care, and the need to do it went with it. Praise God! I struggled for years with an addiction I didn't think I'd ever break, but by the grace and providence of God, I was able to. I appreciate anyone who prayed for me during that time. <3
alliyah That is so wonderful to hear about your progress! God bless! <333
Aug 14, 2024
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Maybe a good question for our consideration. How do you honor God and your faith with your time on social media?
Serrurie wrote:Hello fellow Christian YWSers- i have a question for you. How do you use YWS to glorify God? I find all media in general a major time suck and I've felt God call me to take a break from YWS but I don't know how to.
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gruzinkerbell After looking back at my question I decided it was probably best to take breaks from things and hone in on Christ if you feel like you're doing the wrong thing in social media. Whenever I see negative work on here specifically tied to the person who wrote it, I also offer to share the Gospel with them. I think it's always better to give them the offer of the Gospel knowing they might reject it than never give them a chance to know it at all.
Jul 30, 2024
TheMythMaster I also try to take breaks from things, like I don't need to be constantly checking yws just for one new wall post or something. And I try to show Jesus love to people on here and glorify him through my writing.
Thanks for asking this question.
Jul 30, 2024
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I've been really, really struggling with my faith right now, so I have a question for anyone that will answer. How do you know (and are confident) that God actually exists? What gives you proof that He has created the heart, that Jesus died on a cross, and that the Rapture will truly happen?
LadyMysterio Honestly, fair question! I went through a decent period of wondering this too! I think its something that most people go through. Especially when you've been brought up in a religion, you have to come to God yourself. <3
To me, I'm confident that God exists because he has shown me, because Ive read the bible and gone,"Ok, so whats up God, because im struggling to trust you right now." and even then it took a bit for me come to God myself and define my personal relationship with him. This also may sound weird, but i found God when i stopped going to church.
Because it forced me to just get curious about whats actually in the bible, and what it actually says, not what someone else tells me it says.
There's also some definite historical evidence of the bible, and biblical times too, if you want to look into those things.
I'd love to have a converasation with you if you have more questions, and I may add more to this.
Jul 26, 2024
WinnyWriter C.S. Lewis and Lee Strobel are known for having some good materials that explore a strong basis for faith. Lee Strobel's "A Case for Christ" might be helpful.
Jul 27, 2024
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Could definitely use some extra prayers for the house buying stuff! Got some bad news today about the bank being especially unreasonable so we are likely going to switch banks and because that'll take extra time (potentially a full extra month) the seller may drop us and go with a quicker offer and we'll be back at square one hoping something pops up in the market, in addition to losing out on a couple grand from miscellaneous bank costs. Wishing instead of teaching us about mitochondria in school that they would teach kids a little bit about real estate. And just really hoping that somehow this doesn't get dragged out for too many more months. Thanks for praying!
LadyMysterio Oooh that's sucks. Praying for you!
Jul 25, 2024
alliyah thank you! one of the unreasonable things the bank did is they require an entire new roof to be on the house before closing... the only problem is that all of our roof companies in the county are booked until literally 2025 because of the two tornadoes our community went through, so though from the bank's perspective maybe it seems like a reasonable requirement, from where we're sitting, it's an impossible requirement. So we are almost definitely not going to get the house we were set on which is a bummer. :[ Hopefully will still be able to find something this Summer. ugh.
Jul 26, 2024
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Should we do a "Share a Verse" hashtag again? to give people an opportunity to share their favorite Bible Verse? (Could also be inclusive of Quran + Torah too so YWSers of other faith could participate if they like) - good way to share some truth and encouragement with the site and reflect on our favorite verses.... what do you think?
Kaia I vote yes!
Jul 17, 2024
alliyah I also vote yes --> August 1 maybe?
Jul 17, 2024
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For some reason most of the time I'm so focused on God the Father and Holy Spirit that I just forget about Jesus and when I remember Him and feel His love too it's just like 'woah'. That may be too specific but oh well
Oct 9, 2024
Praying for all effected by Hurricane Storms.