Quote// I Live by a Special Code ...

BE THE WARRIOR

Judging

You know what i've been realizing more and more lately? How some people focus so much on the petty things in life and ignore the bigger issues.

Christians especially. They can judge a person so harshly by their external appearance and whether or not they drink or smoke and they forget all about the heart underneath. From my personal experience i find the tattooed, smoking people to be very genuine and open and the people covered in modest clothing from top to toe to be the most harshest critiques. You may throw around the cheesy quote "don't judge a book by it's cover" but in all honesty, the religious people do that most of all. The people who claim to follow the Bible can be such hypocrites. The people who are supposed to love those from all different kinds of backgrounds, all different kinds of skin colour, all different kinds of appearances, and all different levels in their individual walk with God, can do the complete opposite.

I'm speaking from experience here. I write a lot about such topics, judging people, and i speak about it a lot because it makes me really mad to see 'Christians' push people away and condemn them because they happen to swear or they struggle with smoking, or they have tattoos.
There's more important things to focus on.
How many blogs and YouTube channels out there do you get on women's appearances? Modesty. I'm not saying that women who have blogs or YouTube channels primarily speaking on modesty is wrong but for most young, female bloggers out there to only speak about modesty? I mean, there's more for young women to focus on other than the fact of wearing skirts is more holy than wearing pants. What are you doing in those skirts or pants? Are you helping the needy? Are you feeding the hungry? Clothing the naked and doing whatever you can, going out of your comfort zone, to restore someone's dignity?

That's what's important. Not how much flesh your covering up or how long your hair is.

I say this because i'm sick of people judging other people so harshly, purely based on appearance and meanwhile their neighbour or someone in their congregation needs a roof over their head and they can't do it? Seriously?

Why is modesty so emphasized for women and not men? Most modesty videos i watch they focus about 2 minutes on the guys and the remaining 8 minutes on women. Modesty teachings need to go in my opinion. Yes, modesty is important for BOTH men and women, don't flash your flesh around and don't dress in a sensual way. But if i want to wear shorts that go above my knee to swim in or if i want to wear a tank top when hiking then let me be. I refuse to believe that guys are so sensitive to knees and shoulders that they utterly can't control themselves when they do see that bit of flesh. If you do struggle with a woman wearing casual shorts and a t-shirt on a casual day but instead she has to wear looooong skirts and looooong tops just to cater to your sensitivity then you have issues. I've met men who are normal. Who don't require women to dress according to such standards in order to not lust after them. So i know those guys exist and that's what guys should be like.
Modesty teachings can do the exact same thing that the world does. Make women into sex objects for men's pleasure alone. I have legs, i have arms, they're not sexy unless you make them to be in your own mind.

I really don't care if a person swears, drinks, smokes, has tattoos or piercings. You know why? Because no where in the Bible do you see God pointing these issues out and making it into a weighty matter. I used to be very offended when a person swore. How dare they? But seriously, it's not worth my time and effort to get offended and be upset with that person.

Is swearing a sin? No. You don't see it mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Sure it's not nice to hear and i utterly do not condone swear words to be directed towards any person. But if a person lets a 'bad' word slip out of their mouth for some reason ... there's no reason to blow it up and now think that person is just an utterly horrible, bad human being.

Is drinking a sin? No, not at all. Everything in moderation. Obviously you don't go now and get drunk just because it's not a sin. But if a person wants a glass of wine with their dinner or if someone wants a beer then why not? My brother drinks. When we go out to a nice restaurant he'll order a drink and that's it. Something to fuss over? Nope. It's a drink. I personally do not like the taste of alcohol. I've tasted many different drinks including some pretty bright coloured ones but i hate the taste of it all. Whisky? Probably one of the worst flavours i've ever tasted. A Savanna is nice but not something i'd drink for pleasure. But i still want to try Amarula.

Is smoking a sin? Nope. It's not the best thing for your health but no reason to condemn a person. I know a Torah observant man who's very zealous for God but he just so happens to smoke. Do i criticize him? Judge him? No. Because it's his heart that matters.

Are tattoos and piercings a sin? Obviously i believe that piercings are perfectly alright and i've been studying up on tattoos lately to understand the Word in context and not believe something just because everyone believes it and it's something that i've grown up believing because of my parents or pastor. The more i research the more i lean towards the fact that tattoos are bad only if you get it to honour the dead or a pagan idol. I know people who love God and keep his Torah who have tattoos. When i see their heart and their desire to follow their King i honestly don't see how some ink on your arm can change that. How God is further away from you because of that. It doesn't seem like God's character.

Everything in moderation. There's a difference between having one drink and getting drunk, having a filthy mouth or just saying the odd swear word because you're upset, having tattoos:

And having tattoos:

The weightier matters of Torah are helping the needy, honouring people and treating them as equal and not oppressing them. That's what's the Torah is all about. Treating your fellow man with respect and dignity in your home, in your business, and just in general. Surprisingly a lot of people don't do that and i'm learning all about that in this stage of my life. How people can sit down for a Shabbat meal and praise God for everything that He's doing in their life but they can't be friends or help a person because he's/she's black. Does the amount of melanin in a persons skin define how you're supposed to treat them? You're following Torah, you're claiming to follow the God of the Bible, the God of Israel, you're supposed to be a light to the NATIONS. The many nations out their, not only to the white people. So really, don't sit down for a Shabbat meal when you can't even invite your workers to join you because they're black.

So be careful when you judge a person on their appearance because you don't know what their heart it like beneath.

God Needs Warriors

God needs warriors.
There's enough weak kneed people out there who would abandon Him when hard times come but what does God want? What type of people does He need to fight for His Word, His glory?

He needs strong men and women.

Men and women who have faced hardships but have come out stronger on the other side.
Men and women who don't let difficulties bring them down.
Men and women who will put their life in danger to protect their King.
Men and women who are strong mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Men and women who are warriors.

God is recruiting soldiers for His army. He's seeing who amongst His people are loyal and steadfast. Who will stand up no matter what for Him. Who will stand face to face with the enemy and not be frightened because righteousness burns within him/her.
Lots of people volunteer willingly but give-up because boot camp is just too hard. Some don't even know that they've given up and have stopped trying. But this is YHVH's army. He's only accepting the best, the strongest, and the bravest to get to the top.

Do you want to be a civilian in God's Kingdom? Just living under His protection but never fully coming into His presence? Never fighting along side your King to rid the world of evil?
Or do you want to join His army and fight for the greater good?

If you choose the latter, great but it's not as simple as that. There's obviously different ranks in His army. The higher you get the bigger the responsibility you get. Are you ready to be tested? Do you want to remain at the bottom of the ranks or do you want to work your butt off to get to the top where the King trusts you inexplicably? The tippity-top of the ranks is where you are part of God's mighties. Where you stand right along side Him in the heat of the battle, where you are His right-hand man. Like Benaiah was to David.

It's easy to want that desire inside of you but whether you are prepared to work through the trials that gets sent your way is a completely different story.
To get to the top your strength will be put to the test. You loyalty will be tested too. In the midst of it all you may feel like your King really doesn't care about you, every now and then He may even look like the villain instead of the loving warrior you always thought He was. But those are just feelings. You have to be tested in this area because the enemy, when you're in battle will try to convince you that you've made a mistake in following the King.
So you need to be able to put your shield up when those arrows come flying towards you wanting to penetrate and destroy anything in its path.
But once you've passed all the tests and are proudly promoted to one of God's mighties you'll be glad that you didn't give up in the middle.
Sure from now on your life will be different , very different and a lot harder than when you were a civilian but it was all worth it because now your King trusts you with His Kingdom knowing that you'll never betray or leave Him. He knows that you hold His Torah most dear and will never discard it.

Having the King's trust is a treasure beyond compare!

So go out into the world now, follow Torah, declare truth and freedom and whatever comes your way never, ever forget the bigger reason why your God created you.

TO BE HIS WARRIOR

When you're going through tests don't give up.

Never give up!

They were all mighty men of valour ... a young mighty man of valour ... mighty men of valour ... men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do; ... they were not of double heart ... expert in war ... with a perfect heart ... (1 Chronicles 12)

The Growth

I've changed a lot over the past few years and have overcome many obstacles and fears. 

One of them was other people's criticism of who i am. 

I've changed a lot. I'm always changing. God is continually moulding me into His warrior.

I'm a completely different person to who i was even 2 years ago.

Some people see my change as a bad thing but i see it as a good thing.

You're supposed to be changing, you're not supposed to be the same person you were a few years ago.

Before i didn't deal with people's criticism too well. I would freak out if i found out that some person doesn't like me so i would try to fit in in every way i could to make sure that everybody liked me.

It's exhausting, y'know.

But the past few months i've changed ... again.

Now i can confidently walk around and not care. Some may think that i've drawn away from God and am following my flesh but they don't know anything about me. 

Seriously? You want to judge me on the fact that i have dreadlocks? Or *gasp* an eyebrow/nose piercing? 

Go ahead.

But ...

I know that God loves me.

I know.

And i don't need your stamp of approval.

Don't let other people control you.

Follow God and His Torah.

That's all that matters.

More Lessons Well Learned

In one of my previous blog post i wrote about the lessons that i've been learning during this hard time in my life. Well, i've learnt some more that i'd like to share with you guys.

1: Don't get attached to earthly belongings.
I know that this is the normal 'Christian' thing to say. Don't store up earthly belongings, store up treasures in heaven, etc. Well, it's not about that. My life hasn't been stable lately and i actually prefer my life like this. Constantly moving, constantly learning. And through this i've learned to not get attached to any area or any belongings, besides your real personal things. 'Cause i never know when i'll lose it all. That happened a few weeks ago. We gave away all our furniture, it was unplanned but it was necessary and something that i knew God wanted us to do.
So don't get attached 'cause you never know if you can lose it all the next day.

2: Admit it when you're feeling weak.
Wanting to be a warrior and wanting to be strong and all that jazz is great but you can become so obsessed with being strong that you don't give yourself room to feel. I hate weakness and cowardice, it's the one trait that i detest (to an extent), so when i detect any form of weakness in myself i get a little worried and try to push it away. But sometimes, admitting that you're feeling a little weak at a certain point in your life, can also be strength. It takes strength to humble yourself before God and some one else and admit that you're not handling life too well.

2 Corinthians 12:9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Yeshua's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Yeshua’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

3: Help the needy.

Deuteronomy 15:11 - For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, You shall open your hand wide unto your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land.

Proverbs 19:17 - He that has pity upon the poor lends unto YHVH; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.

Most people when they read these verses think that the 'needy' are only starving children in third world countries. But that's not true. A needy person can be your next door neighbour. We need to help our own first before we help other people and i find it pretty hypocritical when people send money to 3rd world orphanages but they can't go out of there way to help a person next to them. It's a commandment to take care of one another. I've learned all about this in Ryan White's teaching on Justice and Righteousness. Helping those in need is a huge deal in God's eyes and if you turn a blind eye to those who are needing help and you are able to help, then God's judgement will come down on you.
Just the other day we were needing help and this Christian man was able to help us but he wouldn't. We needed a place to stay and he had a place but he wouldn't let us stay because he and everybody else in his family were going on holiday. I was so mad .... so mad. He was putting more importance on his stupid holiday than on helping a family who was in need. But now on Sunday he will go and sit in church and praise God.
That's why i struggle with Christians. So many of them are so damn hypocritical.

I am learning so much and one day when i am able to help other people, i want to go out of my way to help my fellow man. I want to cancel a holiday if i can help a family who needs food and a roof over their heads and not put my silly needs first. Is it better to help a family get back on their feet by offering your home to them? Or to be selfish and go and chill on a beach with a drink in your hand?

Style Ideas

I love bohemian fashion.

Very creative.

Very unconventional.

Very pretty.

Most bohemian clothes are also modest because of the flowy fabric.

This girl i found while Googling 'red dreadlocks' and i was quite surprised to see her outfits.

So lovely in my opinion. 

And of course i'm in love with her hair too.

I like looking at fashion on Pinterest because it gives me ideas so i know what to look for when shopping because items of clothing by itself you might not think to wear but when it's put together with other items it can go together very nicely.

I never thought of rolling up some pants and making them into shorts like these, add stockings underneath and some boots but it's actually quite a nice idea.

I'm a huge lover of harem pants like these ^^^ but i thought you could only wear them in summer but it works for winter too.

Who said dreads can't be feminine?

I'd have the top longer but i like the idea of the socks with the boots.

I love red dreadlocks. There seems to be something mythical about it. But that's just me, lol.

When i am able i will dye my hair red. I used to be red but went back to brown when i put my dreads in thinking that you're not able to dye your hair with dreads but apparently you can. I miss my red hair.

Here in South Africa we have a limited amount of red hair dye. I look at the dyes in America and see all the lovely natural red looking dyes but you don't get those here. I like natural copper red not ruby red. But the  colour that i had before washes out very quickly so i have to put on a more vibrant colour so the colour can last longer. 

It will probably turn out like this.

Gorgeous in my opinion *big smile*!

Lessons Well Learned

The past few weeks have been super hectic, super strenuous, super tense and super stressful. God's plans are rarely ever our plans and that was once again proven these past few weeks. If future plans are running too smoothly, something's wrong.

God usually takes you on a roller coaster ride that you did not foresee ... or want but later on you realize that that was the best thing to happen to you 'cause you've grown as a person and God has taught you some pretty valuable lessons.
I won't go into my story right now ... maybe later on but right now i'm going to share with you the lessons i've learnt from this hard hard time.

1: When people get squeezed their true nature comes out. 
During this time a lot of people around us have been squeezed and pushed to the very limit and it's interesting to see the different reactions from different people. Is it weakness? Or strength? Do you start blaming other people, making them feel lesser as a person? Or do you, even though it's tough, show kindness to other people and encourage them that all's going to be ok? Does bitterness or love pour out of you? Do you draw closer to God and see this as part of His plan? Or do you grow hard and start resenting Him?
I've been the witness of seeing some people during this time spew out bitterness and hate and other people pouring out love and kindness. It's amazing.
You need to make sure that even though you get pushed to the point where you feel you can't carry on, you grow from your experiences and when you come out the other side, you're a better, stronger person.

2: Idolizing the Jews is a dead end street.
I know a lot of people when they start following the Torah tend to look up at the Jews a little too much. Of course you'll admire them a little but when you become obsessed with wanting to be just like them and then later on convert to Judaism, you know you've gone too far. God really opened my eyes to this 'cause i was starting to get depressed because i thought the Jews were more special than me and had some sort of special connection to God but it's not true. They have the foundation, the Torah but even with that they've added so many fences that following the Torah no longer becomes a way for you to draw closer to YHVH but just a set of rules and laws that you do simply because you're born Jewish. When Yeshua is out of the picture a lot of things change. I read the Rabbi's Daughter and that opened my eyes to Chasidic Judaism.
*NOTE: The Rabbi's Daughter is a very graphic book so please take care if you are interested in reading it.

3: Will you trust God no matter what?
Even when it looks like He's abandoned you? Will you still hold onto Him and never let go?
YES! Don't let anything separate you from God.

4: No matter what always remember who you are and who God wants you to be.
A lot of people will judge you if you're different. If you go against the mould. If you think for yourself. If you question things. They'll judge your relationship with God, they'll look down on you. You just have to ignore those people, study the Word of God and see the difference between what's written in there and what's other people's opinions. Know who God made you to be and stick with that.

5: Not everyone sees you the way you see yourself.
I've struggled with major self-worth/self-confidence issues in my life. I'm a very quiet, introverted person and other people never fail to remind me of that fact. It gets really irritating because i hear it all the time. So in my mind i feel like people get irritated with me 'cause i'm not like my older brother who's very charismatic and extroverted. So whenever i meet people i keep my distance 'cause i don't need another person to tell me that i'm shy and quiet. But the other day my mom went to the hairdresser for a free blow and cut. The woman who always does my mom's hair is a good acquaintance of ours. We've gotten together a few times. Of course i wasn't actively a part of our get together's, I always sit and listen and observe always thinking that no one thinks anything of me. But when my mom was at the hairdresser and i was stuck at home with my allergies flaring up the hairdresser told my mom of how, even though i'm quiet, i strike her as some one who's strong, quietly strong. She says my quietness is strength.
That took me by surprise and made me realize that other people see me differently than the way i view myself.

6: Don't plan too far into the future.
Take one day at a time. Since i'm going to be 19 soon i thought that i will have to start making plans for my future. Obviously getting married and starting a family is at the top of my list but only God knows when that will happen and i can't sit around waiting for that day for years. I have to start doing something with my life. So a lot of things were running through my mind of what i could possibly do or study. The 2 things that i was leaning towards were going to tie me down for 3-4 years. I was all excited at first but then after a while i started feeling very uneasy and nervous about tying myself down like that for 4 years since my life hasn't exactly been very stable.
So i'm just going to have to continue praying about this and if God really wants me to do this specific thing then He's going to have to tell me loud and clear but my plans aren't always His plans. It's God's will that will ultimately prevail if you truly follow Him.

7: Brave men don't panic in the face of danger.
A quote from a book i was reading. When things start turning too fast, don't panic, be brave.

8: Always remember God's promises.

And then just a really frivolous one -

9: Learn now, for *the* final time, to not eat things that you are allergic to.
I'm lactose intolerant. I can eat butter but other dairy products if i eat too much of it my nose gets blocked and if i carry on eating dairy products things get worse. But now my body has told me that it now doesn't like the best mayo in the world, Hellmans. I just woke up yesterday feeling cold all over, i had sore throat, a massive headache and whenever i stood up i felt nauseous and faint. Who knew mayo could do this? But i took some allergy medication that a friend gave me, little did i know that it would knock me out till the next morning. I never take strong medication so my body obviously just KOed. But i woke up this morning feeling a lot better except for my neck muscles being in utter pain right now that i can't turn my head properly.
*sigh*. I never learn. But c'mon, dairy is awesome. Yoghurt, cheese, milk ... it's hard to say no to all of that good stuff.