You can take the World

The title of this video/song is called Take the World. For Christmas, I received the album Holding Nothing Back by Tim Hughes. I recently posted a video of my favorite song by him and his songs are just great.

Anyway, when you listen to the song, think about the meaning. I was awed and wanted this attitude towards God.

"The world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, Yeah

The world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, Yeah

is not enough for me

You could take the world just give me You! you coul take the world just give me You! You could take the world just give me You! You couls take the world just give me You! yeah

The world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, Yeah

you could take the world just give me You! You could take the world just give me You! You could take the world just give me You! You could take the world just give me You! yeah

The world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, the world is not enough for me, Yeah

You could take the world just give me You! you could take the world just give me You! You could take the world just give me You! You could take the world just give me You! yeah

All I want is You, all I need is You, yeah, All I want is you, all I need is You!

You could take the world just give me You! You could take the world just give me You!

All I want is You, Jesus I love You,

all I have is You, all I want is You"

MaidenOfEmmanuel

Noche Buena, a glimpse into the Hispanic culture

This is not my image.
For those who are not aware, I am half American and half Cuban. I have decided to write about Buena Noche, the Cuban part of my Christmas.

Noche Buena is spanish for Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve all of the Cuban side of my family goes to my abuela's "grandma" house around dinner time. We eat a feast, and all of the girls have to grab for spoons to serve themselves the moment prayer is finished since the boys are beats from the jungle.
Then we wait.
And wait.
And play games.
And watch movies.
And sing karaoke.
And almost fall asleep.
And watch tv.
And drink soda.
Until it is finally 12 AM!
Everyone shouts Merry Christmas. The little kids run to the gifts under the Christmas tree and everyone walks quickly, but slowly, at the same time so they don't look too eager. Gifts are opened, people are thanked, and then everything is enjoy for about half an hour to an hour.
After that we go home, and by that time it's already 2 AM. Everyone crashes and we wake up again for my American Christmas :).

Send me a link if you post about they way you celebrate Christmas :).

MaidenOfEmmanuel

Is God really that scary?

"It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread."
Isaiah 8:13

I take that passage into account literally. Maybe too literally. I think lately I've been more scared of God than actually having a healthy fear of Him.

The passage that verse is from is a passage speaking to the people that were following the ways of man and rebelling against God. "It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy."
Think about that for a moment. Regarding the Lord as holy means what? Do you truly know what it means, or do you just read the word and move on with life?

"1. of, relating to, or associated with God or a deity; sacred" (Dictionary.com).

That, my friends, is a dictionary definition of holy.
We need to regard the Lord as holy because He is holy. There's no doubt about it. He's sacred. He's righteous. He's pure. He's loving. He's generous. He cares. He is all-knowledgable. He is omnipotent. He is everything. He is God's Son. He was a sacrifice.
Now listen to the specifics (or read).

We know there is Someone to be regarded as holy.
We know the Lord is that Someone who needs to be regarded as holy.
Who needs to regard the Lord as holy?

You need to regard the Lord as holy.

Now the next lines make you wonder.

"And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread."
The Lord should be my fear and my dread?
This part is kind of confusing. I should dread God?
And if I have a fear for God, then I should be scared of God? (The Lord is God, as the Son. I believe that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are triune. So when I say God and the Lord, know that they are the same.)

A problem I'm still half working on is the fact that I've been scared of God, hence this blog post. If there's one thing that I used to do is have a genuine fear of and for God. Which isn't at all bad, but I have always been scared that God is mad at me for things I didn't even know I did wrong and then getting punished by Him.
"I'm so sorry if I did something, and here I am being punished." That was basically along the lines of how I thought and sometimes don't catch myself thinking. If something doesn't go my way, I think it's me being punished. Honestly, it's only because I'm not in control.
The whole point is that I've been scared of God when He continues to bless me with life. I'm scared that things are punishments when I don't know how to trust.

So why shouldn't I be scared of the Lord. Where does dread come in?
Remember that I gave you a verse that was in the middle of a passage. If you read a bit before Isaiah 8:13, you'll realize that the passage was in a direction of rebuking and punishing people for not walking in God's ways.
That makes us realize that God is powerful enough to punish. Exactly the way my thinking was for a while. "I'm being punished by God, this is just great. *MOE smacks herself*"
A problem with today's society is that people either don't regard the Lord as holy or they're too afraid of God.

There's one attribute we're missing though.
God is not only just, but He is merciful and loving.

"10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His love for those who fear Him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for He knows how we are formed,
He remembers that we are dust." Psalm 103:10-14

I don't know about you, but those are very encouraging words. If I was punished for every sin in a major way like I deserve, I'd be dead. I probably would end my life since it'd be so miserable.

Scared and fearful are two very different words.
If you don't walk with God, you better be scared. However, fearing God is one way you walk with God. Fearing is knowing that God is strong and almighty, enough to conquer anything in this world, but knowing that He's caring and loving as well.

"Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
who walk in obedience to him."
Psalm 128:1

"God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him."
Psalm 67:7

"In that day, man will have regard for his Maker and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel."
Isaiah 17:7

"O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness."
Isaiah 25:1

"Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him."
Isaiah 30:18.

"1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."
Hebrews 12:1-4

Walking with God means we're blessed and receive God's grace. I'm encouraged by the fact that I don't need to be scared of the one true God, but fearful of His gracious, just, and loving attributes.

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Then I was senseless and ignorant...

This Psalm I literally just found when I opened up my Bible and I loved these verses that I spotted.

"22Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a (B)beast before You.
23Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.
25Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...
28But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works."
Psalm 73:22-26, 28.

Blessings,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

The orange cone is back, better than ever

In my last post, I mentioned that I will be changing my blog around. A little more fun, but still set in a serious tone at times. More videos, more pictures, more posting! So I hope you will enjoy, but in the meantime, just know I'm working slowly on it. You'll notice that it's changing around a bit - things taken out and things put in and things kept.

So bear with me in this hard time :P.

The whole construction process should be done before Christmas, however I do have lots of things to do. If you have any suggestions, comment away. Feeback is awesome :).

There are immediate changes, especially some that my friend (Prism (click)) has suggested.
One will be the layout, I noticed, and I'm not sure when she did, but that there are many links around everywhere, and it's confusing, even to me. Also you'll notice that the moment you click you won't hear loud music (I've taken that out for the meantime). You'll notice that I'll be posting more frequently, something I've promised this past week.

Just wait and see, you'll actually enjoy being on my blog.

MaidenOfEmmanuel

(Picture by toons4biz on www.imageenvision.com/cliparts/traffic-cone )

Clinging to the Cross

This is one of my favorite songs at the moment. Tim Hughes rocks.

~MaidenOfEmmanuel

No, I have not fallen off the edge.

I lost a follower. It made me sad, but I realized why.

Would you like to know why, or do you already know?

I realized that I don't have very many fun things on my blog, and that is about to change. Truly, I know that I tell you I'll do a lot of fun stuff on my blog, but it never beats actual fun.
Another eason of my losing a follower is that I don't blog as much as I used to, but I will try to change my posting frequency as well. I plan to blog more, I just have so much school, plus NaNo. I've had this post saved as a draft forever, but I hope to post it soon. It's on fearing God :).

Anyway, I'm putting a new poll up, I also have this really great idea to do a book giveaway on the book that I'm reading currently, but that's an if, I'm completely unsure.

Otherwise, I'll be posting more fun stuff, as well as I hope to keep up my important thoughts posted as well, and to blog more frequently.
Unfortunately, I have no fallen off the edge of the earth. Or is it the face of the earth?

God bless,
MOE/MaidenOfEmmanuel

PAKISTAN: ASIA BIBI—DEATH SENTENCE

"On Nov. 8, Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by a judge in Pakistan, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. The judge also fined Asia $1,190 (U.S.) and told her she had seven days to appeal the decision. VOM contacts reported that her attorney will appeal the sentence.

Asia was arrested by police on June 19, 2009, and charged with blasphemy after she engaged in a religious discussion with co-workers. Many of the local women, including Asia, worked on the farm of Muslim landowner Muhammad Idrees. During their work, many of the Muslim women had pressured Asia to renounce Christianity and accept Islam. Her family is one of only three Christian families in a village of more than 1,500 families.

On June 19, there was an intense discussion among the women about their faith. The Muslim women told Asia about Islam, and, according to VOM sources, Asia responded by telling the Muslim women that Christ died on the cross for our sins. She told them Jesus is alive. “Our Christ is the true prophet of God,” she reportedly told them.

Upon hearing this response, the Muslim women became angry and began to beat Asia. Then some men took her and locked her in a room. They announced from mosque loudspeakers that she would be punished by having her face blackened and being paraded through the village on a donkey.

Local Christians informed the police, who took Asia into custody before the Muslims could carry out their plan. She is currently being held at the police station in Nankana city. Christians there had urged the police not to file blasphemy charges, but police claimed that they had to go forward because of pressure from local Muslim leaders.

VOM is assisting Asia’s family and urges you to continue praying for Asia and her family during this difficult time. Pray that her appeal will be successful and that God will act on her behalf. Pray that Christians in Pakistan will continue to stand for Christ" (Stacy L. Harp "Christian Persecution").

If you'd like to see the actual article (though I copied the whole article here) then click this link: http://www.persecutionblog.com/2010/11/pakistan-asia-bibideath-sentence.html .

Pray for this lady to have courage in dying in Pakistan for her faith in Christ Jesus, the true Savior,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Beyond the NaNoLand

There's a title of a novel called Beyond the Summerland, so I kinda mixed NaNo into that title and see up there how it just worked and...eh, I'm lame.

I just woke up from a nap about half an hour ago and I'm just thankful that I didn't sleep longer than an hour. I have those moments where I feel tired and fall asleep and then suddenly I'm up three hours later, completely lost in time.

NaNo is still going but extremely hard with the time I have. A blog I'm following actually posted a really funny (at least in my mind/opinion) post about her struggle with NaNo. If you want to read it, click this link: NaNo Land VS The Looney Bin.

Blessings,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

1667 words seem a lot harder now.

I've officially started NaNoWriMo and I'm already stumped. Can you believe that?

I added the NaNo word count widgets but they don't seem to be working quite well - unless my problem is my computer and you can see my word count perfectly.

Why am I stumped already, you ask? (I really should stop assuming you [guys] are asking these questions)
Well, this is the beginning of my second "fantasy" novel. Technically it's not really fantasy, but more "Biblical" times (when I say "Biblical" I'm referring to the fact that people are using swords, there is a prince, and I use town or village instead of city... oh and mules, and horses, and carriages.) I've attempted fantasy before but I never got past it, which I could have written that novel, but it wasn't my favorite novel-- and I'm just typing away.

*little interruption* Here I have my Microsoft/I Stand at the Door document minimized on my laptop screen, stumped and having the hardest time for hours trying to write my NaNo novel, and then I pull up my blog and start typing away a long and lengthy ramble about why I'm stumped that is aready currently 197 words long in a matter of five-ten minutes. 197 by the time I finished writing the word currently. *finishes/quits the interruption*

Anywho, I know I can write fast, but this story's genre is way out of my comfort zone. If you have read before my synopsis's of my last two novels, I'm sure you realize that I'm not used to writing in a darker and older way before.

Maybe if I blog this much everyday, I can count it as a warm-up and it'll warm my brain to write - bogging I mean.

Are you tired of me?

Blessings,
MOE

Word count: 300.

Revelation 3:20 novel - NaNoWriMo

NASB version,
"'Behold, I stand at the door and (B)knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.'"
~Revelation 3:20

NIV version,
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
~Revelations 3:20.

Those are two different transations of Revelation 3:20. The verse is great but my problem is of what translation I like best. Now you ask, "Why would MOE have a problem with the translation of this verse?" (Or maybe you didn't ask that question. You know what I mean.)

The reason why I'm having trouble picking out a verse is because I'm going to use a line from that verse as a title to my new NaNoWriMo novel. If this novel works out, then I shall create a series called the "Revelation 3:20 Chronicles". That's if the nove works out.

Anywho, now how many of you are deciding to attempt NaNo this November 2010? Well, I'm attempting but perhaps some of you know you'll be fine.

NaNoWriMo writing bar will be added soon :).
New poll.

~MOE

When I say I'm a Christian

When I say, “I am a Christian” I’m not shouting, “I’ve been saved!”

I’m whispering, “I get lost! That’s why I chose this way”

When I say, “I am a Christian” I don’t speak with human pride

I’m confessing that I stumble—Needing God to be my guide

When I say, “I am a Christian” I’m not trying to be strong

I’m professing that I’m weak and pray for strength to carry on

When I say, “I am a Christian” I’m not bragging of success

I’m admitting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt

When I say, “I am a Christian” I don’t think I know it all

I submit to my confusion Asking humbly to be taught

When I say, “I am a Christian” I’m not claiming to be perfect

My flaws are all too visible But God believes I’m worth it

When I say, “I am a Christian” I still feel the sting of pain

I have my share of heartache, Which is why I seek His name

When I say, “I am a Christian” I do not wish to judge

I have no authority… I only know I’m loved.

This poem was written by Carol Wimmer.

God bless,
~MaidenOfEmmanuel

Over 40 Summer Reads, how about you? (Summer Reads Part Five)

Suspense.

Mystery.

Thriller.

The books I wrote for my fiction-to-read list seems to be a lot of historical/"suspenseful" with the typical scenes a girl usually reads :P.
Well I wrote down pretty much over a hundred books in a Microsoft Word document.

72. Title: Dead Reckoning
Genre: Espionage thriller.
Author: Ronie Kendig
Author's site: RonieKendig.com

73. Title: Nightshade
Series: Book #1 of the Discarded Heroes series.
Genre: Military suspense.
Author: Ronie Kendig

74. Title: Digitalis
Series: Book #2 of the Discarded Heroes series.
Genre: Military suspense.
Author: Ronie Kendig

75. Title: The Long Way Home
Series: Book #1 of the The Homelander series.
Genre: Suspense thriller.
Author: Andrew Klavan
Author's site: AndrewKlavan.com

76. Title: Deception
Series: Book #3 of the Ollie Chandler series.
Genre: Mystery thriller.
Author: Randy Alcorn
Author's site: Epm.org

77. Title: Under the Cajun Moon
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Cark
Author's site: MindyStarnsClark.com

78. Title: The Trouble with Tulip
Series: Book #1 of the Smart Chick Mystery series.
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Clark

79. Title: Blind Dates can be Murder
Series: Book #2 of the Smart Chick Mystery series.
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Clark

80. Title: Elementary, My Dear Watkins
Series: Book #3 of the Smart Chick Mystery series.
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Clark

81. Title: A Penny for Your Thoughts
Series: Book #1 of the Milion Dollar Mysteries series.
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Cark

82. Title: Don't Take any Wooden Nickels
Series: Book #2 of the Million Dollar Mysteries series.
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starn Clark

83. Title: A Dime a Dozen
Series: Book #3 of the Million Dollar Mysteries series.
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starn Clark

84. Title: A Quarter for a Kiss
Series: Book #4 of the Million Dollar Mysteries series.
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starn Clark

85. Title: The Buck Stops Here
Series: Book #5 of the Million Dollar Mysteries series.
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Clark

86. Title: Secrets of Harmony Grove
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Clark

87. Title: Whispers of the Bayou
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Clark

88. Title: Shadows of Lancaster County
Genre: Mystery.
Author: Mindy Starns Clark

89. Title: The Pawn
Series: Book #1 of the Patrick Bowers Files series.
Genre: Suspense mystery.
Author: Steven James

Steven James does not have a website right now.

90. Title: The Rook
Series: Book #2 of the Patrick Bowers Files series.
Genre: Suspense mystery.
Author: Steven James

91. Title: The Knight
Series: Book #3 of the Patrick Bowers Files series.
Genre: Susepense mystery.
Author: Steven James
Author's site:

92. Title: The Bishop
Series: Book #4 of the Patrick Bowers Files series.
Genre: Suspense mystery.
Author: Steven James

93. Title: Assignment: Boydguard
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Lenora Worth
Author's site: LenoraWorth.com

94. Title: Risky Reunion
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Lenora Worth.


If you feel like you need to read a book this post is already part five and I still have more books to post of my to-read list. If you even pick up a book from any of the to-reads then tell me so I can pick the book up at the same time you read!

God bless,
Maiden :)

Stephanie Morrill book giveaway at A Girl of Many Colors!

Head on over to AGirlofManyColors.blogspot.com so you can try to to win a free autographed copy of me, just different by Stephanie Morrill.

Visit StephanieMorrillBooks.com for more about Stephanie Morrill.

Maiden

Book review of Whisper on the Wind.

In Brussels at the height of WWI, a small, underground newspaper is the only thing offering the occupied city hope—and real news of the war. The paper may be a small whisper among the shouts of the German army, but Edward Kirkland will do anything to keep it in print. Meanwhile, Isa Lassone, a Belgian-American socialite whose parents whisked her to safety at the start of the war, sneaks back into the country to rescue those dearest to her: Edward and his mother. But Edward refuses to go, and soon Isa is drawn into his secret life printing the newspaper . . . And into his heart. (MaureenLang.com)

I was hesitant about this book at first but as I continued to turn the pages the book's plot had me reading as much as I could. The book was suspenseful as well as historical.

The characters in Whisper on the Wind were strong, there were barely any time where I felt that they needed help. The whole country of Belgium needed help and Maureen Lang made sure she knew her facts while she wrote her book.
I have never read a historical fiction book quite as realistic and vivid as Maureen's book.* Maureen taught me more about World War I than all that I knew about the war at all.
The war was between Germany and Belgium and what I really just wanted to know were how the people were that were affected by the war. Maureen showed how Isa and the Kirklands had to hide during the time of war while a newspaper was being printed that Germans considered illegal. Isa and the Kirklands had to hide and the Kirkland risked their lives along with Isa just to do the right thing. The characters in the book met characters that didn't think as highly as they did of their God but they had trouble in their faith just like some of their friends.
The moral of the story was how to not hate your neighbor and enemies even while troublesome times were occuring. Whisper on the Wind was a powerful book that didn't end like those typical stories.
You should read Maureen's next books right after you read Whisper on the Wind!
Whisper on the Wind receives 4 1/2 stars.

Tyndale was kind enough to send me a free reviewing copy of Whispers on the Wind.

Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (August 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414324367
ISBN-13: 978-1414324364

Maiden

The Healer's Apprentice book giveaway by Prism from A Girl of Many Colors blog.

A girl friend of mine is only giving away a book called The Healer's Apprentice.
If you'd like to enter her book giveaway the link to her post is Giveaway of The Healer's Apprentice!.

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

iheartfaces.com's "smirk" photo-challenge

iheartfaces.com is having yet another photo-challenge called "Smirk". I decided I would participate in this funny photo-entry :).



Make sure you visit iheartfaces.com to participate in this smirky photo-challenge!

Props to my sister for begging for pictures.

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Tim Hawkins

I have so many posts I want to blog about but for now I'll entertain ya'll with a Tim Hawkins video.

Tim Hawkins is a Christian comedian, most all of Tim Hawkins' videos are hilarious.

http://www.godtube.com/featured/video/tim-hawkins-hand-sanitizer

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

"The Wishful Lamb"'s children photo-contest.

The Wishful Lamb is having a photo-contest! The photo-contest is on babies, go submit a photograph you took for The Wishful Lamb's photo-contest!



Comment to only tell me what you think of this photo I photographed. If you have entered the contest send me your link to your photo-contest post!

Blessings,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Over 40 Summer Reads, how about you? (This blog post is only about Summer Reads Part Four :).)

I need books of the mystery genre.

Tell me how is it that I come back from the library with two books while I had returned just one book? Tell me how I tell my blog-readers that I have only over forty books to read when my list has come out to seventy books? I must find every book that an author has written when I have just read one good by that author that was written well.
I have added a few secular books to my reading list. The only books I shall be listing are in the Christian fiction genre.

On to the continuous list of books I shall read.

52. Title: Unveiled
Series: Book #1 of the Lineage Of Grace series.
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers
Author’s site: FrancineRivers.com

53. Title: Unashamed
Series: Book #2 of the Lineage Of Grace series.
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers

54. Title: Unshaken
Series: Book #3 of the Lineage of Grace series.
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers

55. Title: Unspoken
Series: Book #4 of the Lineage Of Grace series.
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers

56. Title: Unafraid
Series: Book #5 of the Lineage Of Grace series.
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers

57. Title: The Last Sin Eater
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers

58. Title: Leota's Garden
Genre: Inspirational.
Author: Francine Rivers

59. Title: The Priest
Series: Book #1 of the Sons Of Encouragement series.
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers

60. Title: The Prince
Series: Book #3 of the Sons Of Encouragement series.
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers

61. Title: The Prophet
Series: Book #4 of the Sons Of Encouragement series.
Genre: Inspirational historical fiction book.
Author: Francine Rivers

In the Sons Of Encouragement series of books I let two books from the series out of this blogpost.

62. Title: Snow Melts
Series: Book #1 of the Seasons Of The Tallgrass series.
Genre: Romantic inspirational book.
Author: Deborah Vogts
Author’s site: DeborahVogts.com

63. Title: The Carousel Painter
Genre: Historical inspirational romantic book is The Carousel Painter.
Author: Judith Miller
Author’s site: JudithMcCoyMiller.com

64. Title: A Daughter's Inheritance
Series: Book #1 of the Broadmoor Legacy series.
Genre: Historical romantic book is A Daughter's Inheritance.
Author: Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller co-wrote this book.
Author’s site: Look at Tracie Peterson/Judith Miller's site.

Tracie Peterson's site is farther down this post.

65. Title: An Unexpected Love
Series: Book #2 of the Broadmoor Legacy series.
Genre: Historical romantic book is An Unexpected Love.
Author: Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller co-wrote this book.

66. Title: A Surrendered Heart
Series: Book #3 of the Broadmoor Legacy series.
Genre: Historical romantic book is A Surrendered Heart.
Author: Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller co-wrote this book.

67. Title: Summer Of The Midnight Sun
Series: Book #1 of the Alaskan Quest series.
Genre: Historical romantic is Summer Of The Midnight Sun book.
Author: Tracie Peterson
Author's site: TraciePeterson.com

68. Title: A Love To Last Forever
Series: Book #2 of the Brides Of Gallatin County series.
Genre: Historical romantic is A Love To Last Forever.
Author: Tracie Peterson

69. Title: A Dream To Call My Own
Series: Book #3 of the Brides Of Gallatin County series.
Genre: Historical romantic is A Love To Last Forever.
Author: Tracie Peterson

70. Title: A Lady Of Hidden Intent (book)
Series: Book #2 of the Ladies Of Liberty series.
Genre: Historical romantic is A Lady Of Hidden Intent.
Author: Tracie Peterson

71. Title: A Lady Of Secret Devotion (book)
Series: Book #3 of the Ladies Of Liberty series.
Genre: Historical romantic is the book A Lady Of Secret Devotion.
Author: Tracie Peterson

Obviously all of the words in this post are about books and are books. Some of these book titles are a little weird :P. I clarified that A Lady Of Hidden Intent is a book. I clarified A Lady Of Secret Devotion is a book. Of course those last two book titles are books but typing the book titles out I was like "I'm paranoid." I'm weird.

Well the next couple books are mystery suspense. Lately the only books I've foundlately are those historical ones. The historical genres are okay to read, suspenseful books are better reads :P.

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

iheartfaces.com's "Beach Fun".

A lot of people already know that I am an aspiring amateur photographer, I've been taking pictures of events for people, I take portrait pictures of people.
The site iheartfaces.com always has photo-challenges ever week of the year and the age starts from fourteen to above for amateur photographers and professional photographers.

The difference between amateur photographers and professional photographers might seem unfair for contest participants but even the site hosts made it clear that the only reason why you're a professional photographer is because you're being payed for your photos.

I decided to participate in the photo-contest this week of iheartfaces. The theme for the photo-blog is Beach Fun.
If you have any pictures of someone at the beach blessed with skill visit iheartfaces.com :).



This is my iheartfaces entry for their "Beach Fun" photo-contest :). Visit ihearfaces.com for more information to join in on their photo-fun!

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Over 40 Summer Reads, how about you? (Summer Reads Part Three)

Ready for even more books? I'm still in the middle of creating and editing my list but I officially have over 50 books to read and I'm still finding more that I have put on my list and randomly find through mutual authors I've read.

All these books are in the Christian genre.
A lot of these books are either historical, romantic, inspirational, suspenseful, thrilling, and mysterious.
There are a lot of books so tighten the string on your reading glasses.

26. Title: Never Let You Go
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Erin Healy
Author’s site: ErinHealy.com

Never Let You Go is the first book written solely by Erin Healy. She has edited books and she has co-authored two books called Kiss and Burn with the infamous author Ted Dekker.

27. Title: The Face
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt
Author’s site: AngelaElwellHunt.com

28. Title: Let Darkness Come
Genre: Legal thrilling mystery.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt

29. Title: The Justice
Genre: Inspirational.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt

30. Title: The Awakening
Genre: Inspirational suspense.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt

31. Title: The Truth Teller
Genre: Inspirational suspense.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt

32. Title: The Silver Sword
Series: Book #1 of The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor series.
Genre: Historical fiction.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt

33. Title: The Golden Cross
Series: Book #2 of The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor series.
Genre: Historical fiction.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt

34. Title: The Velvet Shadow
Series: Book #3 of The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor series.
Genre: Historical fiction.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt

35. Title: The Emeral Isle
Series: Book #4 of The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor series.
Genre: Historical fiction.
Author: Angela Elwell Hunt

36. Title: Critical Care
Series: Book #1 of the Mercy Hospital series.
Genre: Medical romantic suspense.
Author: Candace Calvert
Author’s site: CandaceCalvert.com

37. Title: Disastrous Status
Series: Book #2 of the Mercy Hospital series.
Genre: Medical romantic suspense.
Author: Candace Calvert

38. Title: Code Triage
Series: Book #3 of the Mercy Hospital series.
Genre: Medical romantic suspense.
Author: Candace Calvert

39. Title: Taming Rafe
Series: Book #2 of the Noble Legacy Series.
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Susan May Warren
Author’s site: SusanMayWarren.com

I haven't read the first book of the Noble Legacy Series because I'm unsure if the book is my type but I'll mention if I decide to read the books.

40. Title: In Sheep's Clothing
Series: Book #1 of the Mission: Russia series.
Genre: Thriller.
Author: Susan May Warren

41. Title: Sands Of Time
Series: Book #2 of the Mission: Russia series.
Genre: Thriller.
Author: Susan May Warren

42. Title: Wiser Than Serpents
Series: Book #3 of the Mission: Russia series.
Genre: Thriller.
Author: Susan May Warren

The books from the Mission: Russia series do seem like thriller but they probably could also be put in the romantic suspense genre I'm guessing.

43. Title: Flee The Night
Series: Book #1 of the Team Hope Series.
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Susan May Warren

44. Title: Escape To Morning
Series: Book #2 of the Team Hope Series.
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Susan May Warren

45. Title: Expect The Sunrise
Series: Book #3 of the Team Hope Series.
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Susan May Warren

46. Title: Happily Ever after
Series: Book #1 of the Deep Haven Series.
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Susan May Warren

47. Title: Ekaterina
Series: Book #1 of the Heirs Of Anton Series
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Susan May Warren

48. Title: Breach Of Trust
Series: Book #1 of the Call Of Duty series.
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: DiAnn Mills
Author's site: DiAnnMills.com

49. Title: Sworn To Protect
Seires: Book #2 of the Call Of Duty series.
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: DiAnn Mills

50. Title: Pursuit Of Justice
Series: Book #3 of the Call Of Duty series.
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: DiAnn Mills

Though the books of the Call Of Duty series are in the romantic suspense genre I found they seem thriller-y as covers and summaries.

51. Title: A Woman Called Sage
Genre: Historical romance.
Author: DiAnn Mills

Now tell me what you're reading!

I have so many blogging ideas currently, but I'm working on finding verses for my "important posts" posts I've been thinking of. My Summer Reads Series is more like a filler for the time. I'd love to know what you all are reading though. I've gotten comments about authors and books. I really research the books I'm going to read and I added Erynn Mangum's site on my author list on my computer's "Favorite Books" list.

God bless,
~MaidenOfEmmanuel

Over 40 Summer Reads, how about you? (Summer Reads Part Two)

This post is the continuation of Summer Reads Part One. I'm posting my to-read list that I have so far, and you post your to-read list in the comments of this post. Very simple how just posting a comment of the books you're excited about works, eh?

Anywho onwards to my list of to-read books.

13. Title: A Passion Denied
Series: Book #2 of The Daughters of Boston Series
Genre: Historical romance.
Author: Julie Lessman
Author’s site: JulieLessman.com

14. Title: A Passion Redeemed
Series: Book #3 of The Daughters of Boston Series
Genre: Historical romance.
Author: Julie Lessman

15. Title: A Hope Undaunted
Series: Book #1 of The Winds of Change Series
Genre: Historical romance.
Author: Julie Lessman

I have not read the first book of The Daughters of Boston Series just because for now I do not believe that's a book I'm too interested in.

16. Title: Surrender the Heart
Series: Book #1 of the Surrender to Destiny Series
Genre: Romantic suspense/history
Author: MaryLu Tyndall
Author’s site: MLTyndall.com

17. Title: Surrenger the Night
Series: Book #2 of the Surrender to Destiny Series
Genre: Romantic suspense/history.
Author: MaryLu Tyndall

18. Title: The Blue Enchantress
Series: Book #2 of The Charles Towne Belles Series
Genre: Historical romance.
Author: MaryLu Tyndall

19. Title: The Raven Saint
Series: Book #3 of The Charles Towne Belles Series
Genre: Historical romance.
Author: MaryLu Tyndall

I haven't read the first book to The Charles Towne Belles Series , as a matter of fact I haven't read any of MaryLu Tyndall's books. I found a book of hers at the bookstore in the Christian section, wrote down the title of the book, and then looked her up on Amazon and her site. There's only so much romance I can take in and certain types of romance. We'll see how I like MaryLu Tyndall.

20. Title: The Believer
Series: Book #2 of The Shaker Series
Genre: Historical romance.
Author: Ann H. Gabhart
Author’s site: AnnHGabhart.com

I have not read book one of The Shaker Series. Gabhart's books are new to me so I have yet to tell you how I like even just her second book.

21. Title: Unlocked
Genre: Inspiration (Unlocked is somewhat in the romantic genre)
Author: Karen Kingsbury
Author’s site: KarenKingsbury.com

22. Title: Ever After
Series: Book #2 of The Lost Love Series
Genre: Inspirational romance.
Author: Karen Kingsbury

Honestly I've only heard of Karen Kingsbury's books, and looking up her site it looks like her only books are fictional books of marriage and not-my-type-romantic-books. I'm giving her a try but we'll see with Kingsbury.

23. Title: Grace In Thine Eyes
Genre: Fictional history.
Author: Liz Curtis Higgs
Author’s site: LizCurtisHiggs.com

24. Title: Bookends
Genre: Inspirational romance/history
Author: Liz Curtis Higgs

25. Title: Mixed Signals
Genre: Inspirational romance/history.
Author: Liz Curtis Higgs

Liz Curtis Higgs is a new author I'll be reading and I'm not too sure whether Mixed Signals is my type of inspirational romance, but I had the book on my list so we'll see about that book and her other books.

Obviously all of the books on my Summer Reads Series Part Two are books by authors I'e never read but I'll try the books out :). You may try the books out and tell me if you do because I'd love to know your opinion on some of these books!

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Over 40 Summer Reads, how about you? (Summer Reads Part One)

I decided to post about the books I am currently reading and will read. I know I'm not the only bookworm out there. Maybe I'm the most bookwormy, but I say readers unite! Find more books to read even though we're almost at the near end of summer. You can still read books in the school year, right? I know I'll be reading books during the school year no matter how busy life will be.

Let me tell you my own story,
Once upon this time, there is a girl who goes by the name of MaidenOfEmmanuel "MOE" (pronounce 'mow'). She loves going to libraries, bookstores, the library's sites, more bookstores, author's sites, and even more libraries. The best place to spy on her is when she's sitting in the middle of an aisle at the bookstore/library. She almost always loses her library card (MOE is on her sixth or seventh library card), but the librarians know her so well they already know her name the moment she walks in (literally they'll tell MOE she has books awaiting her the moment she comes in). Wherever the books are, you'll most likely be able to find MOE in the Christian-fiction section. If she doesn't have pen and paper, she'll take her camera and photograph the covers, titles, and authors of the books she's interested in. When she gets home she looks up the most interesting authors' sites and finds even more books by them, and by then her list just continues to grow and grow to a never-ending-to-read list.

Did you enjoy reading my story?
I'm actually very picky with the books I read. I mostly read books in the Christian genre. I do read secular books, but very few secular books. The books I read must be written well, have a good story line, have my intrigue by the summary and first chapter, along with being very appropriate. Kisses are fine in books, trust me when I say I love the innocent romance in books.
Can you tell I'm picky with the books I read? Even though I'm picky about the books I read I know a lot of good Christian authors who write very well.

Anywho, last time I went to the bookstore, I wrote down so many titles of books and authors of books that its not even funny - plus I visited some sites and realized I have a growing list of books that I'd like to share with you guys. My favorite genre is Christian fiction, more specifically I like suspense, mystery, historical-fiction, trhiller, and romance (which girl doesn't?).

Note: On my to-read list every book will be in the Christian genre, so honestly, these are books that shouldn't be offensive in an innapropriate manner.
Alllllll of these books I'm listing in a detailed manner I have not read yet. These books are all on my to-read list. If I list a book I have read, I will tell you I read that book.
I would post reviews, but that would give me the longest blog-posts ever, so I'm linking to about-the-books.

Here goes nothing (and a very long blog post).

1. Title: Red
Series: #2 of The Circle Series
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Ted Dekker
Author's site: TedDekker.com

2. Title: White
Series: #3 of The Circle Series
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Ted Dekker

3. Title: Green
Series: #4 of The Circle Series
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Ted Dekker

4. Title: The Bride Collector
Genre: Thriller/suspense
Author: Ted Dekker

5. Title: Blessed Child
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Ted Dekker

6. Title: A Man Called Blessed
Series: Sequel to Blessed Child.
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Ted Dekker

I haven't looked up more of Dekker's books (though I've already read Black, Kiss, Burn, Blink [of an Eye], Thr3e, and Obsessed

7. Title: An Eye for an Eye
Series: #2 of Heroes of Quantico
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Irene Hannon
Author’s site: IreneHannon.com

8. Title: In Harm’s Way
Series: #3 of Heroes of Quantico
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Irene Hannon

9. Title: Fatal Judgement
Series: #1 of Guardians of Justice
Genre: Romantic suspense.
Author: Irene Hannon.

There are more books by Hannon, I just haven’t looked into the rest of Hannon’s books. I finished Against All Odd which is #1 of Heroes of Quantico and really loved the book :).

10. Title: Nightmare’s Edge
Series: #3 of Echoes from the Edge
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Bryan Davis
Author’s site: Daviscrossing.com. Bryan Davis’s site was originally DragonsInOurMidst.com
Davis has a blog on Blogger you can just click “blog” on his site.

11. Title: Starlighter
Series: #1 of Dragons of Starlight
Genre: Suspense.
Author: Bryan Davis

12. Title: Whisper on the Wind
Genre: Romantic suspense/history.
Author: Maureen Lang
Author’s site: MaureenLang.com

This post is only part one of MOE's Summer Reading of '10.
Tell me about some of the books you're reading, seriously. You don't understand how much I'm honestly telling you to leave a comment about your summer reads or write a post about your summer reads - I want enoug books to last me a very long time.

Praise the Lord! YCF whaaa? 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Praise the Lord my abuela is doing so much better!

My grandmother is out of ICU and now in a regular hospital room. I saw her walking a little bit across the hall of the hospital and walking in the hospital for her is a major step. She's been in bed for days and once you haven't worked your muscles for a few days walking is very hard.

Thanks for the prayers, and her hospital days aren't over just yet so keep on praying :).
____

So can you believe that I've been part of the YCF since May 18th 2008 and I did not realize I did n't have the banner up?! My goodness gracious. I know have the banner of the YCF up but for those to who didn't know (though a lot of the oldie YCFers knew) that I have been a part of the YCF for a couple years now :). I'm not exactly sure when the YCF started but I know that when I was a part of the YCF we had very little amount of memebers and now the YCF has majorly grown!
____

Tell me what you guys think about my new blog layout (comment on my blog!)!
The new theme of this blog is 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, two verses I just memorized the other day.

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Prayer Request - My abuela

Today is the third day my abuela (abuela is grandma in Spanish) has been in the hospital. She has had Crohn's disease for almost her whole life and my uncles are doctors, so when she gets sick, she just stays at their house. (If you don't know what Crohn's disease is I would suggest you look it up on Wikipedia or something rather. Crohn's disease bad, but not always fatal if you treat the disease well and a person can have a long life with it - but you get sick frequently every year for the rest of your life.) Since she stays at my uncle's houses everytime she gets sick, her going to the hospital is rather shocking and nerve-wracking. She's in her seventies and very weak right now.
She went to the ER because she had a fever of 104 and the fever would not leave. The doctors found out that the infection is actually spread in her bloodstream so her whole body is infected right now and I think they were thinking of a transfusion.
I went to visit my abuela around 6 PM and found out that she would have surgery around 12:30. My dad, my twin sister, more relatives, and I stayed there till the surgery was done and a little after.
They did surgery on her because they had a feeling her intestines were blocked and her intestines were blocked. Food wasn't going down her intestines and she couldn't use the restroom for a day or two. If they hadn't done the surgery on her she would have died in a couple days. Right now her body is fighting the infection and recuperating from the surgery and the intestines that had to be painfully expanded by the food. She'll be in the hospital for at least two weeks if not more weeks at the hospital.
I didn't get home till 3:30 AM this morning but my evening and day had been productive by just visit in the hospital and spending time making her a huge banner with my cousins and siblings.
The banner my cousins and I made for my abuela says, "Las abuelas sostiene nuestras manecitas por un rato, pero nuestros corazones para siempre." The saying we put on her banner means, "The grandmothers hold our hands for a little while, but our hearts forever." All of us cousins traced our hands and signed our names.
My abuela was too incoherent at some point to see the banner but she saw it later and she seemed pretty happy about the banner. Her words don't come out loud and clear, but the adults who know Spanish very well will put their ear down and understand what she's saying.
(My twin sister is the girl in the picture.)
My abuela has been in ICU since Saturday night and she's been there all of yesterday and she's there today. Please pray she heals.

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God by Max Lucado

I do not own this picture of the cover of "Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God".
When I ordered this book I was intrigued by the title, the cover, and the summary. It was about the characters in the Bible! I wanted to do more of a study on some of those characters - maybe I missed something about Joseph, or even more "minor" characters.
When I opened this book, I was semi-excited and I was also continuing with my intrigue. When I actually started reading the book I was disappointed.
There were questions that I've never asked myself, but then there was a reason why I neve rdid ask those questions. I was hoping for a book that would give me Bible references and interesting points on a "character" (who is/are really just a non-fiction person/people). Instead of Biblical references, there was a question I'm quoting from the actual book, "Did Jesus and Joseph arm-wrestle? Did Jesus let Joseph win a couple times?" That is pointless in my opinion-- and second, I already know that Jesus was God in a physical form. Muscle is physical. Hence when Jesus was a young boy, I bet Joseph did win. But really - this book did disappoint me. I found things fake in a certain sense, and just not my taste.
There was a positive about this book though, and the positive of this book was that Lucado pointed out that all of these people - different sins and different stories and different actions - had a chance to play a part particularly in the ultimate plan of God (even the non-Christians) for Jesus' death.

Thomas Nelson was generous enough to give me a copy of this book to review.

This book might intrigue you in the sense of the off-subject questions, so if you'd like to read the book, go for it.

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

Help me, anyone? Comment!

I have been searching and searching for templates/backgrounds for my blog. I have used "TheCutestBlogOnTheBlock" numerous times, and though their backgrounds are nice... I'm thinking about trying another site for the fun of it :).

So! If anyone has any blogger template/background sites (even tutorial on how to do your own background and links and such - because I know how to do some of that!) then please leave a comment with your name/user and the link to the site :).

I can make my own background and banner and I've done links, but I'd much rather prefer to get a template that lets me have to columns on the side so no one will have to keep scrolling all the way down to search for things. I'm lazy ;P.

God bless,
~MaidenOfEmmanuel

*I would preferably like a site that has black and white backgrounds -- but the black and white backgrounds is not needed at all.*

Construction for now

Note: This is not my "Under Construction" picture.

Hey guys,

I've decided that I really would like to redo my blog a bit with more links and more activities but my blog is unworthy of that right now with the layout it has currently.
I'm going to be reconstructing some areas of my blog so look out for posts but beware that I might have a few links and pictures everywhere on my blog XP.

God bless and stay tuned to my posts :),
~MaidenOfEmmanuel

21 Names of God - Part 3/3

EDIT: Extra name :).

This is the last part of my trilogy of 21 Names of God. If you haven't read the first two parts of the 21 Names of God then click them now :).
21 Names of God - Part 1/3
21 Names of God - Part 2/3
They're easy and fun to read not like my paragraph after paragraph of a post ;P.

21 Names of God - Part 3/3:

15. Jehovah-Rohi
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah RO-hee")
The Lord is my Shepherd
*References in the Bible:
Psalm 23:1-3
Isaiah 53:6
John 10:14-18
Hebrews 13:20
Revelation 7:17


16. Jehovah-Sabaoth
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah sah-bah-OATH")
The Lord of Hosts, TheLord of Armies
*References in the Bible:
1 Samuel 1:3, 17:45,
Psalm 46:7
Malachi 1:10-14
Romans 9:29


17. Jehovah-Shalom
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah shah-LOME")
The Lord is Peace
*References in the Bible:
Numbers 6:22-27
Judges 6:22-24
Isaiah 9:6
Hebrews 13:20


18. Jehovah-Shammah
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah SHAHM-mah")
The Lord is There, The Lord my Companion
*References in the Bible:
Ezekiel 48:35
Psalm 46
Matthew 28:20
Revelation 21


19. Jehovah-Tsidkenu
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah tsid-KAY-noo")
The Lord our Righteousness
*References in the Bible:
Jeremiah 23:5,6; 33:16
Ezekiel 36:26, 27
2 Corinthians 5:21


20. Yah, Jah
(pronounced "Yah")
"I Am", The One who is the Self-Existent One
*References in the Bible:
Exodus 3:14; 15:2
Psalm 46:1; 68:4
Isaiah 26:4


21. Yahweh
(pronounced "YAH-way")
"I Am", The One who is the Self-Existent One
*References in the Bible:
Exodus 3:14
Malachi 3:6


*+*+*+*BONUS NAME*+*+*+*
El Quanan
(pronounced "EL kahn-AHN")
Jealous
*Reference in the Bible:
Exodus 34:14

Did you notice that the last two names for God "Yahweh" and "Yah, Jah" are very similar? Yet the references I have in my guide for the names have different Bible references. God has so many names and to think we are just little human beings with a first name, middle name, and last name!

New POLL :).

God bless
~MaidenOfEmmanuel

Second Blogoversary Today - MOE's blog under redecorating construction soon.

I will post again soon. But I'd like to announce that today is my second blogoversary! My gidget-gadget gizmo thing that tells me when my blogoversary is either wrong or broken :P. Anywho, I'd love to thank all of my fellow blogger-pals for sticking with me, and I intend to have a post of everyone who's been either following me or keeping in touch old and new on here and their blogs :).


ALSO I believe I shall redecorate my blog soon, so if things seem a little messy, just hang in with my posts and blog stuff. My blog will be better I assure you after the messy posts and gadgets and pictures and colors everywhere!

God bless,
~MaidenOfEmmanuel

21 Names of God - Part 2/3

A continual, part 2/3, of the twenty-one names of God (if you didn't read the first, and would like to, it's the post right before this one-- or follow this link "21

Names of God - Part 1/3):

8. El Shaddai
(pronounced "el-shaw-DIE")
The All Sufficient One, The God of the mountains, God Almighty
*References in the Bible:
Genesis 17:1-3, 35:11, 48:3, 49:25
Psalm 90:2


9. Immanuel
(pronounced "ih-MAN-u-el")
God with us, "I Am"
*References in the Bible:
Isaiah 7:14, 8:8-10
Matthew 1:23


10. Jehovah
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah")
"I Am", The One Who Is, The Self-Existent One
*References in the Bible:
Exodus 3:14, 6:2-4, 34:5-7
Psalm 102


11. Jehovah-Jireh
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah JI-rah")
The Lord will provide
*References in the Bible:
Genesis 22:13, 14
Psalm 23
Mark 10:45
Romans 8:2


12. Jehovah-Mekaddishkem
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah mek-KAH-dish-KIM")
The Lord Who Sanctifies
*References in the Bible:
Exodus 31:12, 13
1 Peter 1:15, 16
Hebrews 13:12
1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24


13. Jehovah-Nissi
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah NEE-see")
The Lord is my Banner
*References in the Bible:
Exodus 17:15, 16
Deuteronomy 20:3, 4
Isaiah 11:10-12
Ephesians 6:10-18


14. Jehovah-Rapha
(pronounced "juh-HO-vah RAH-fah")
The Lord Who Heals
*References in the Bible:
Exodus 15:25-27
Psalm 103:3
Psalm 147:3
1 Peter 2:24


I didn't respond to any of the comments over my post, but I did want to respond to Camden's comment.
@Camden: Hmm, I DID look up whether Elohim is plural, and so far I've been finding that it's not-- BUT that's just the meaning that it's not. Maybe it was meant, in how they formed the word, to be plural. I'll see if I check more into it, but I haven't found that it is yet. Thanks for bringing that up. :)

NEW POLL! It's on this post this time. COMMENT AND PICK. At the very end, I'll have ALL of the names of God on there.

Study the names more - they're interesting!

God bless,
~Maiden Of Emmanuel

21 Names of God - Part 1/3

(EDIT: There's a new poll on these posts. Look at the right ---> and scroll to the top. "21 Names of God - Part 1/3, which are your favorite?". Check it out.)

I decided to do a blog post on the many names of God. Honestly, there are more than just twenty-one names for Him, we could call God many wonderful things, because He is wonderful, He's our Creator. But for now, I shall just do a blog post on some names that most people don't know or have forgotten.
**Since they have references in the Bible, and meanings, and pronunciation, I've decided to do seven per blog posts. So there will be three all together. Enjoy. :)**

1. Adonai
(pronounced "Ah-doe-NI")
The Lord and/or My Great Lord
*References in the Bible:
Psalm 8
Isaiah 40:3-5
Ezekiel 16:8
Habakkuk 3:19

2. El
(pronounced "El")
The Strong One
*References in the Bible:
Exodus 15:2
Numbers 23:22
Deuteronomy 7:9
Mark 15:34

3. El Elohe Yisrael
(pronounced "El El-o-HAY Yis-raw-ALE")
God, the God of Israel
*References in the Bible:
Genesis 33:20
Exodus 5:1
Psalm 68:8
Psalm 106:48

4. El Elyon
(pronounced "El EL-yuhn")
The God Most High
*References in the Bible:
Genesis 14:17-22
Psalm 78:35
Daniel 4:34
Acts 16:17

5. Elohim
(pronounced "El-o-HEEM")
The All-Powerful One, Creator
*References in the Bible:
Genesis 1:1-3
Deuteronomy 10:17
Psalm 68
Mark 13:19

6. El Olam
(pronounced "El o-LAHM")
The Eternal God, The Everlasting God
*References in the Bible:
Genesis 21:33
Psalm 90:1-2
Isaiah 40:28
Romans 1:20

7. El Roi
(pronounced "El ROY")
The God Who Sees me
*References in the Bible:
Genesis 16:11-14
Psalm 139:7-12

If you'd like more information on meanings and/or where they came from, I can do another post on that. These are pretty interesting and important. There are way more references in the Bible for these meanings, but four was enough. :)
I hope you did like reading about them, there's still fourteen more to go, so stay tuned in a little!

God bless,
~Maiden Of Emmanuel

Know Who You Believe IN - CANCELLED forever. I owe everyone an apology, explanation, and a new idea...

READ, PLEASE.

Alright everyone, I apologize, but I am not going to continue the "Know Who You Believe In". I thought I could commit myself to a chapter for two Saturdays, but I've been committed to other things and school and lots of places to go.
ANYWHO, I hope you all enjoyed the two posts I did on it. I'm REALLY sorry for those who were reading my posts. Read the book-- it's better than my input and posts (for real, guys :P).
BUT this DOES NOT quit my blogging whatsoever. You guys are still stuck with me forever! :P

God bless-- and keep reading :)
~Maiden Of Emmanuel

"Know Who You Believe" Eight Bottom Line Truths/Truth One: Inner Direction Needed [Paul E. Little] **PART TWO**

NOTE: The words in italics are taken straight out from the book "Know Who You Believe". They belong to Paul E. Little. :)

"This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'" [Jeremiah 33:2-3]
"I need Your divine direction, Lord God." That would be the best way to ask God for His everlasting love. The call from God today has not changed. To each of us He says, "Wehre are you?" He initiates the call, He offers help to fill the "hole in our souls". This is the magnificent connection-- you can actually know personally the only true God in whom you believe!

"My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." [Exodus 33:14]
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." [Jeremiah 31:3]

What is God like?
If praying (talking to God) is new to us, we would naturally want to know who God is. Without a clear description, our alternative would be a God of our own construction or imagination. There's are a LOT of people who think God differently than who He. Several are imageries of what would most likely expect from a very confused person. But He's not those at all.

God is a person
We can talk to Him. God is not a ghost or a puff of smoke. He has personality, mind, heart, and Spirit. As human beings, He created us in His image with individual personality, mind, heart, and spirit.
"The Lord will guide you always" [Isaiah 58:11]
"Come to me ... for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" [Matthew 11:28]

God reveals Himself
God has revealed Himself to us in numerous ways. He's shown Himself in His "self-revelation" by His creation. I [also] marvel at the structure of my thumb and four fingers, telling me Someone engenious designed them. God revealed Himself specifically to the biblical writers and told them what to write and they recorded God's thoughts. He told them He had plans for their lives, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" [Jeremiah 29:11]. He unveiled His character and His will for them. The entire message of the Bible, gives numerous details of God's regularly interacting with people. He sough them out, spoke to them directly, taught them, comforted them, and brought lght to their lives.
God directed individuals. He brought Elijah to full-blown victory when enemies challenged the nation's faith in God. He gave Job strong fortitude and deep spiritual insights when trouble hit him. In the New Testament, God spoke to a Christian named Ananias and told him to go to a Hebrew-trained man named Saul, who was praying. This Saul was transformed into the vibrant apostle Paul [Acts 8:11].

"God shows Himself not only in the Bible... but also in the trees, flowers, clouds, stars." Martin Luther

Then we see God's love expressed in His sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to communicate to us. In this act, He gave the fullest expression of His love., showing His desire to keep a close connection between Him and us. "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him." [1 John 4:9].
"In all their distress he too was distressed,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old." [Isaiah 63:9]

God is love
He loves each of us personally. Motivated by love, He values what we do with our lives. Jesus tells us God numbers the hairs on our head and cares for our deepest needs. The Bible also tells us His love endures forever. He will not leave us when we face temptation. His love draws us irresistably to Himself. "His steadfast love never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning." [Lamentations 3:22-23]
His love is shown unmistakably in His actions. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son..." [John 3:16]. That was God's Son! This was love that gave!
Through the Son, God made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God's glory.
He is the exact representation of God's being.
He sustains all things by His powerful word [Hebrews 1:2-3].
He is the One and Only, who has made God known [John 1:18].
"God's love is stronger than fire and destruction, and even in the hands valleys of deepest darkness, His rod and staff are put into our hands and bridges are thrown across the abyss." This was the moving declaration of German theologian Helmut Thielicke.

God is holy
God's natue is inherently without flaw. His instructions--His law-- are for our benefit, solely for our good.
It is not easy to fully comprehend God's holiness. Our world is shattered by senseless and vicious acts of evil that defy explanation. "God, why?" we ask. A simple answer is that God has given each of us the dignity of choice: choose to follow His path or choose to evil and defy the Lord who made us. (I have chosen to follow God's path!)
Our own standards tell us to judge and punish madd murderers and terrorists and to feel justified in it. The little white lies or cheating on taxes we might forgive and feel no guilt about them. But down deep we know little sings become big ones and a second lie is often needed to cover up a first lie. Before we know it, lying becomes a habit. All of us want the other person to be honest. The fact is, Jesus said, all of us need to learn God's standards of holiness and we need forgiveness. ANY sin separates us from our holy God. And His holiness is for our benefit.
Children feel hurt if we see them playing with a box of colored pushpins and we take the pins away. Is that fair? The child might wail and object, but you know it's right. Your desire is to protect the child. Likewise, God could not have slide-rule holiness. He knows where to draw the line.
God's standard is logical. Would God's presence and practice in heaven allow us to vote on our preference: shall we allow white lies or not? (We should NOT allow white lies!) Imagine for a moment if God God would allow even little lies into His presence in heaven. It would be certain to cause arguments, don't you think? God is %100 perfect. He is completely without evil in thought, word, or deed.
God's holiness is far above ours--total, unflawed goodness, a fixed incompatibility with inner or outer evil. His holiness is a comfort! Anything less than perfection would not be God; it would be an imperfect human.
Would God--or could God--make a difference?
"Tell everyone about Jesus Christ, God's Son, He's the best option of all!" (a friend of Little)

Where we are in our journey matters to God. He is calling to each one of us, "Where are you?" We will find His open arms and unparalleled love waiting for us.

"Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian." --G.K. Chesterson.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." [Jeremiah 29:13]

___

The end of Truth One (chapter one). Hope you all enjoyed!

God bless,
~Maiden Of Emmanuel

"Know Who You Believe" Eight Bottom Line Truths/Truth One: Inner Direction Needed. [Paul E. Little] **PART ONE**

NOTE: The words in italics are taken straight out from the book "Know Who You Believe". They belong to Paul E. Little. :)

"Ask any ten people what makes a person a Christian and you'll get ten different answers."

Some ideas may have a grain of truth; others give a far-from-accurate picture. People have several different ideas of Christianity. A lot of it is very far from the truth. Some reasons:
1. A Gentile: anyone not Jewish or an adherent of one of the world's major religions.
(Would an atheist like Madeleine Murray O'Hare want to be called a Christian? --O.O No.)
2. Someone who was born and raised in a Christian in a Christian home or country, or who inherited their faith.
(Can faith be passed on through childbirth? --No.)
3. A person who goes to church.
(Does going into a garage make you a car? --No.)
4. Someone who practices rituals such as baptism, Communion, and/or Bible-reading.
(These activites may have value, but is the all-wise, personal God in the picture? --No.)
5. One who follows the Golden Rule, and leads a moral life.
(Many good, moral people try to live by the Golden Rule yet make no claims to be Christians. Does merely following the teachings of Jesus give us a one-on-one connection with Him? --No.)
6. A person who abstains from specific external, so-called "worldly" practices.
(A long list of "don'ts" or prohibitions might be seen as characteristic of some Christians. How does an emphasis on negatives fit in with Jesus Christ's message, "...I have come, that they may have life, and have it to the full." [John 10:10]? --Nowhere.)
7. Someone who gives casual intellectual assent to a certain list of beliefs.
(This could be a casual assent to the idea of God and Jesus Christ, like saying, "Oh yes, I believe all that I heard in church." Is belief a tentative list of ideas without a personal interchange or connection between the individual and God? --No)
#1 is pathetic. #2 and #3 are linked together in the sense of: there are a LOT of people who think that. #3, #4, and #5 are linked in the sense of: they both re religious "rituals" people believe that will save them.
~So then we all ask the question:

What makes a person a Christian?
(*=Little's stories-->) *Some time ago I gave a talk and Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, on the reasonableness of Christianity. At the end, I opened the floor for discussion. A heavily bearded graduate student stood up, took his pipe out of his mouth, and asked, "Why do you Christians bother?" His underlying complaint of irrelevance went far beyond his words. I was riveted by the young man's honesty. Christian "bother" because truth is at stake.* None of the definitions above give the full picture of the Christian message. Our understanding of the truth is what we believe and trust.

We need direction.
Our firsty bottom-line truth is "Inner Direction Needed". "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'?" [Mark 7:18] That was Jesus speaking the people. Who we are on the inside was (and is!) of utmost importance to Him. It is to us also. A lot--Christian & secular songs-- have a very vast amount of lyrics that have to do with a person's heart.
All of us have questions about Jesus. Several wondering what He has to do with our everyday lives. Does anything matter? Is it even true we can have a personal relationship with Him? Is there anyone we can trust?

"Is Anybody There?" by John Hiatt, 'Well, I'm out here on my own, Followin' a star, Asking on my knees, for some direction, please. And, God, You know that's hard.' If God doesn't care, who does?

God's love is more than you think.
St. Augustine described our life as our "God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill."

Asking questions defines us as humans. We feel we need help from someone outside of ourselves, but (unfortunately) too often, seeking God and praying become our last and feeblest resort.
There is hope.
Throughout the Bible we see our Creator God directing, guiding, encouraging the people He created. He intended us to be in close relationship with Him. From he beginning, He desired a "family" relationship. (Hence, the beginning of the Bible-- Genesis-- God first created a family. The beginning of our lives.) "...Where are you?" [Gen. 3:9] God didn't want to be seperated. He calls to every one of us, whom He created. "Come to me, and I will give you rest..." [Matt. 11:28]

Does a car need a driver?

We human beings were made to be directed and led in life's path in close connection with our Maker. We function best when we get our cues from God. Unfortunately, each of us has indiviudally shoved God out of the driver's seat of our livess. We continue to ratify decision and handle our lives without reference to God. Trying to live life without God, our incredibly wise Creator, is really as silly as being upset because we are dependent on air to breathe-- and then holding out breath in rebeliion! Cutting ourselves from the one available Source of divine, nurturing power is like a tree cutting off its roots. We need God. God changes our dead lives into living ones. Period!
___________________

I hope you guys enjoyed that first half of chapter one.

EDIT: I realized the whole chapter was way too big for one teeny blog post. :P No one would read it at a time. So I decided that instead of three months, this devotions thing will take six months, because the chapters will be split in TWO.

Anyway, I've been loving this book so far. :D

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel

"Know Who You Believe: The Magnificent Connection" - Saturdays

EDIT: I realized the whole chapter was way too big for one teeny blog post. :P No one would read it at a time. So I decided that instead of three months, this devotions thing will take six months, because the chapters will be split in TWO.

"Does your faith seem more like a routine than a relationship? Do you know in your heart that God cares about your day-to-day life? Do you want your prayer life to be personal and intimate rather than simply saying words? If you answered 'Yes' to any of these questions, you need to know... You can connect with God! Paul E. Little: During his ministry, Paul Little helped thousands of seekers-- young and old-- to find satisfying answers to the deepest longings of the heart and soul. This wealth of information is available to you now in this easy-to-understand book. If you've been searching, and have yet to be satisfied, maybe the question isn't whether you believe in God, but whether you know personally whom you believe!"

Best-selling author of Know Why You Believe | Know What You Believe

This devotions book is what I'll be posting about each and every Saturday. There are twelve chapters for twelve Saturdays (exactly three months) and I will be going through them all. Let's hope I can stick to that schedule! I'm excited about it actually. As I learn and read each chapter, you can learn with me-- just in a quicker form. *grins* My parents hand me books like these frequently and I actually read a while ago one of the top titles up there ^. It was good, I just never thought to blog about it. But now I'd love to seek God better, and I want to take you all (if you so desire to, as well) on my adventure of seeking Him better. This book is just the way! Of course, my posts might bore you or might be a little long. There is no reason to dedicate yourself to reading them. The only one who needs to give dedication to this is me. If you do read them all - God bless you. *laughs* I'll also be putting up polls about this just to see if anybody is interested really and if you click "awesome!" under this post... Then I'll be pretty sure you might be excited by that too. Comments are loved as always. :)

Little's books are very good and very thorough. My dad wouldn't have handed his books to me if he didn't think so. They are also easy to understand - especially if you're a Christian. I would recommend buying this book yourself. You would have a better experience with reading it on your own than learning through me.

Hope you're just as excited as I am!
God bless,
~MaidenOfEmmanuel

God IS Love, He can be your valentine, and so can another - Valentine's Day Special

Song of Solomon is basically like a book about and of love in the Bible. There are also poetic books of the Bible. I'm in the middle of reading the book of Psalms for my devotions, and it has plenty of praises to God and plenty of verses that show how loving God is.

God is Love.

My reading of the Psalms have showed me He is so merciful.
My sinning nature and the fact He sent His Son shows how powerful and loving He is.
David KNEW He wasn't going to forsake him. God is also trustworthy.
Adonai answers prayers as well (and in this post I have a story on my prayer this past week :D). God listens.

There are so many more things about Him. Those are just a few.
BUT Valentine's Day is what I'm focusing on today. I would've posted this on the 14th (the literal Valentine's Day), but I wasn't feeling very well. So here I am two days after.
V-Day is a day on love. And there are different ways people celebrate this day, especially if you're a Christian and single.

Many Christian single young ladies and ladies will take Jesus as their "valentine". But you can just say He is your love. There's a difference between Jesus being the One that holds your heart-- and your valentine.

The definition of Valentine: "val⋅en⋅tine / Spelled Pronunciation [val-uhn-tahyn]
–noun 1. a card or message, usually amatory or sentimental but sometimes satirical or comical, or a token or gift sent by one person to another on Valentine Day, sometimes anonymously.
2. a sweetheart chosen or greeted on this day.
3. a written or other artistic work, message, token, etc., expressing affection for something or someone."

It's a little bit more of a physical sweetheart (that term is used for both a boy and girl) than a spiritual one. But it is true that God holds everyone Christian's heart. :) Jesus saved us, so He has us. And He does show His love.
All the time.

The difference on Valentine's Day is one for physical, but its okay to say Jesus is too. He once was physical. Though not anymore. Which is pretty cool.
I prayed two weeks ago for a cold front on my birthday (last week), when it was pretty hot. Guess what? Almost our whole contry received snow and I got my cold front -- on my birthday and Valentine's Day. You can bet I was praising.

God shows His love many ways.

God is always there for you. Even on days that aren't for a day of love. He IS love.

God bless,
MOE

Miracles happen even in the midst of disaster - HAITI

Most all of you should know there was a terrible earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Very tragic and very sad. Thousands of people died, and are still dying.

But something about Haiti was pretty clear-- most all Haitians were involved in voodoo and witchcraft-- which was/is even more tragic. Our church has some missionaries there that own churches and an orphanage. One couple created and runs the orphanage, and they basically take almost every child that Hatians bring that are abandoned. Along with the orphanage, they also have a clinic there. They take care of children that ned help-- and even adults who need help. They live in Pion, Haiti. So they felt some of the tremors in the earthquake, but not much.

There was one lady, not a missionary, but she had a nephew in the earthquake and he survived in a three-story school building that collapsed during the earthquake. Her e-mail was forwarded through my church and to me. This is what is said:

I have seen many people turning to prayer as their last and only option--it should be a first choice and best choice. It does change things. I'll give you an example. My family has been sharing about more and more of their experiences. You can't tell about all the trials in a disaster like this at one time. Things keep coming out as time goes by. That first night after the quake, it was supposed to rain. The forecasts all predicted it and the Haitians said that the temperature and sky all indicated that it should have rained. Can you imagine if that would have happened? There were so many buried but still alive, the dust everywhere, and even the ones saved were sleeping outside and still in shock. It is cold for Haiti right now and rain would have killed many more people. My family said that their whole neighborhood who was outside that night prayed and prayed for the clouds to go away--as I'm sure many, many others did. It started to sprinkle just a little and everyone lifted their hands and shouted praises and supplications--and it didn't rain at all in Port that night or any other night since then. My sister, lifting up her hands as she recounted this, said that the clouds opened up and the stars showed over the whole sky. Amazing! God is good.



My nephew Louine, that was buried under his school, still suffers from the shakes. He can't sleep through the night. But, his story is a story of grace. He was on the second story of a 3-story building. His class room faced the street. He was sitting in his desk when he felt the earthquake start. He stood up immediately. It didn't take long for the building to collapse. He fell onto his desk instead of being crushed in it like others of his classmates were. But, when the quake ended his head was resting on the folding chair and one arm was under his desk and the ceiling of the 3rd floor was less than a foot above his head. He couldn't even sit up or turn his body at all. For a long time, the students didn't even know that it was a earthquake, they thought that only their building had fallen. But, after a lot of time had passed and no one arrived to help, they believed it had to be a quake and the whole city was affected. They knew they had to help themselves. It was already dark by this time and they only had the light from their phones. They couldn't call anyone. The ones that were still living encouraged each other not to cry or loose hope. They touched hands or feet or any part of the body, if possible, and sang hymns to keep their courage up. At around 9:00 PM, their professor, who was talking up to that point, passed away. He was 'sitting' right behind Louine. Then the students nearest the door were able to move the broken chalkboard to clear a hole near the doorway. It took a lot of painstaking work with their bare hands to clear even a small space. As each person was freed, it opened a small route to reach the others. Louine was one of the last. He is a tall young man and the hole wasn't big enough for him. He had to take the rubble and make the hole larger. By this time, there were people that were helping from the outside. And he made it out. One of the things that struck me the most is when he talks about the period of time when he was waiting for the others to get out. The cement ceiling was less than a foot away but it kept descending. Louine says that he kept passing his hand over his head to see how close the ceiling was to him. When his turn came, the ceiling was resting on his forehead. When he got out, the first people he saw were his dad and our cousin. They had arrived at the same moment that Louine left the building. Praise the Lord! Louine attributes his class being saved because they prayed together. The class next to his had many who survived the initial collapse but they panicked. Louine said his class mates tried to help them to be calm and pray and not to scream but they couldn't seem to stop. After a couple of hours, these students succumbed to shock and their injuries. No one was able to leave. Louine also prays that his professor was able to turn to God in his last moments because he cursed and mocked his students efforts to pray. But, Louine emphasizes that God can change hearts, even at the last moment. When one of his fellow classmates broke down, the rest of the class was able to sing and pray for them. In this way, they were able to stay encouraged and united. Louine thinks that 12-13 students were able to walk out of the rubble and 8-9 had to carried out of the building. Three students died instantly and the professor died after several hours. In all the classes, Louine's had the most survivors. Again, he attributes it to God's grace. The earthquake was at 4:45PM and Louine left the building at 10:30PM. Others followed him until into the early morning hours. Louine didn't leave the scene right away. He knew how the shock left so many tremendously thirsty. He and others went to find water and lowered it to the trapped students below. He believes that saved many others.



Louine wants me to say this to you: I want to tell my story because I didn't know for a long time whether I would die or not. I checked the time on my phone often so as to know the time of my death. But, there came a moment when God spoke to me. He said, 'You will not die, I want to show you my greatness.' Louine says it is for this reason that he not only wants to tell his story, but is able. I can attest to that as he is sitting beside me shaking. I pray that remembering God's grace and love in the midst of all the horror will heal him as nothing else can. He pleads with you to never stop praying because God does not allow anything to happen for nothing. God gives VICTORY.



God bless you, Kristie

Miracles still happen today, and they prove He exists.
God should be praised and exalted, for He is everywhere, and everyone is in His ultimate plan. :)

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel