My Testimony

I am a wretched sinner, undeserving of grace. My sin separated me from the eternal GOD, WHO is holy, righteous, and just. I have violated GOD's law, both in thought and deed. 

          "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOD." Romans 3:23

Because GOD is holy and just, I deserve nothing but judgement. GOD made me and I rebelled. I am a sinner. Adam, the representative of the human race, sinned, and thus, his sin was imputed to me. I am a sinner. I did not acknowledge GOD, nor give HIM glory. I am a sinner. 

          "For although they knew GOD, they did not honor HIM as GOD or give thanks to HIM, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1:21

GOD's justice requires a punishment for sin, and HIS holiness does not let HIM look on sin. I am a sinner. Because of this, I deserve the fullness of GOD's wrath poured out on me. 

         "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." Ephesians 2:1-3

         "For the wrath of GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." Romans 1:18

          "For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23a

However, GOD WHO is rich in mercy, planned for there to be salvation for those HE chose before the creation of the world. Before even time began, GOD had a plan for paying for my sin, and for the sin of all other believers, who HE has called to HIMSELF. And that plan was that GOD the SON came to earth, perfect and holy, and became a man.

          "And the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen HIS glory, glory as of the only SON from the FATHER, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

And HE came to pay for my sin, as the only, perfect, spotless sacrifice that could take away my sin. 

          "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of JESUS CHRISTonce for all." Hebrews 10:10

And on the night of HIS crucifixion, HE was betrayed into the hands of HIS killers by one of the twelve WHOM HE had called out and chosen; Judas. (Matthew 26:48, Mark 14:43, Luke 22:47, John 18:3) And when the soldiers arrested HIM, all but two of HIS disciples completely abandoned HIM. (Matthew 14:50), and one of those denied HIM, (Matt. 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:55-61, John 18:16-27)

The leaders of HIS people, the priests, Pharisees, and Saducees, formed a false court to condemn HIM to death, though HE had never sinned. (Matthew 26:59-66, Mark 14:55-65, Luke 22:66-71, John 18:19-2) 

Herod treated HIM with contempt (Luke 23:11) Pilate had HIM scourged (Matt. 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1), and the soldiers mocked and beat HIM, and placed on HIM a crown of thorns (Matt. 27:27-3, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:1-3). 

And they led HIM to the cross, where they nailed HIM, and left HIM to the derision of the world (Matt. 27:34-50, Mark 15:24-37, Luke 23:33-45, John 19:18-30)

And upon that cross GOD poured out the full cup of HIS wrath against HIS only SON, placing on CHRIST my sin, and placing on me, HIS righteousness. 

          "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on HIM the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6

          "Behold, the LAMB of GOD, WHO takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29

         "You know that HE appeared in order to take away sins, and in HIM there is no sin." 1 John 3:5

          "HE made HIM who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of GOD in HIM." 2 Cor. 5:21

          "Much more then, having now been justified by HIS blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of GOD through HIM." Romans 5:9

HIS death, and resurrection paid for my sin. HE bore the wrath of GOD, so that I wouldn't have to. I am not saved by my own works. 

         "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Eph. 2:8-9

          "But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." Acts 11:15

I am a sinner, saved by grace, through faith. I have been set apart for GOD to do HIS will.

          "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10

          “If you love me, you will keep my commandments." John 14:15

When I was dead in my sins, CHRIST died for my sins, suffering the agonies of the cross, and suffering under the wrath of GOD for my sins. I am saved by grace, and not of my own works. I am redeemed by the SON of GOD, and I await HIS second coming, knowing that I am called out to be HIS, and am now redeemed by HIS blood. 

9/11 Never forget

Here in the US, we remember the 9/11 attacks on the world trade center and the pentagon, as a memorial to those who died and to honor those who risked their lives to save those who survived. To all who served our country fourteen years ago, pulling survivors from the wreckage; thank you. To the brave men and women who died by wresting control of the hijacked plane back from the terrorists  so it would never reach Washington, D.C.,we remember your courage and bravery; thank you. To all who lost family on that day; we mourn for you. To all survived, we rejoice with you. Let us never forget those who have gone from us.

Busyness and pie crusts!

Whew! I've completely neglected my blog, now haven't I? I've been very busy playing habitica, which basically means the house is really looking good from cleaning it. WOO!

So far, I've knit two washcloths as wedding gifts:

The one off to the left is just folded.

And I've also  knitted a toddler blanket for a friend:

And started a new washcloth and another baby blanket. 

I've also oiled/polished all the cabinet fronts, vacuumed the entire house, swept and mopped ad-nauseam, and two weeks ago I refinished the kitchen floor. I've made a big batch of lentil soup, and made three apple pies in the past 2 weeks. 

A friend gave me an awesome recipe for pie crusts. Most pie crust recipes you mix something like milk, butter and flour together, and add water as needed. The problem with this type or recipe is that if there's not enough water, you have simply a damp powder mixture that won't stick together, and if there's too much water, you basically have glop. My friend gave me a better recipe. 

You take :

2 cups flour

2/3 cups olive oil

1/3 cup milk

and you mix them all together. Don't overmix. Once they're mixed, split in half so you can have crust for both the pie bottom and lid. Try not to touch it. Roll it out between two sheets of saran wrap and then place it in the pie tin. It will not stick together if you try putting it in the tin with your hands (I've tried. It's like it's humanphobic). To actually get it in the pie tin you have to roll one side onto your roller and then peel off the saran wrap and strategically drop it into the tin without it falling into a big pile of pie dough.

Attempt, and repeat. This process will inevitably frustrate you. But keep in mind! This is all for the love of fresh, homemade pie. You can do it!.

Repeat rolling it out until you actually make the dough land properly in the pie tin. Then, after you've put in your desired filling, attempt to recreate your success with the pie lid. Good luck!

Habitica RPG Melior Griffon; Or..

...in other words, more work, and more procrastination. I decided to, not only color this in (SHOCKING! I almost NEVER color my artwork), but I did it with watercolor pencils *gasp* and then went over it with actual WATER *GASP*...ON non-watercolor paper!! *GASP!!*!  *exhales* Ok, after that lead-up, here ya go.

Joining habitica

Well, I started a new game. It's called Habitica, or HabitRPG. I don't know if it'll be a good game, but so far, it's really awesome.

Now, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I really try to avoid video games. I know people who are video game addicts (yes, that is a real thing), and I don't want to become them. However, this game isn't like most games. You don't earn points by running around on a virtual world. You earn points by doing things in real life, such as setting up new habits, doing daily chores or challenges, and having a to-do list to  do throughout your week or month. As you complete your habits, dailies, and to-dos, you gain experience, gold, and silver, and you level up. If you fail to do a daily or a habit, you lose health points. The higher your level, the more things you get, like pets, armor, or other things. By doing real life chores, you actually play the game. It's epic! It's a game I am not entirely sure I would mind being addicted to. Who would hate to start enjoying the daily mundane chores?

My "dailies," as they call the daily chores, are:
-don't press snooze (oh, my word, I can press snooze for up to an hour and a half. Truly, I've done it...more than once. And I actually have an alarm that shakes my bed. That tells you how much I hate mornings. I DESPISE them.)
-Make bed
-Prayer (I tend to forget this one without a reminder, because it seems like such an easy concept that I put it off. In reality, praying can actually take a while, since I have such a hard time focusing. I have to actually write out my prayers, and I still get distracted. Seriously...I have ADOS [attention deficit OOOh, shiny!]).
-Bible reading (I'm such a bad procrastinator. Don't judge me.)
-Bible memorization (Again, I put this one off whenever I memorize something wrong and have to correct it. Don't judge me. I'm a wimp when it comes to correcting things. I will put it off as long as possible.)
-Get dressed and put away pjs. ( Seriously, unless I have to go out, I will happily spend all day in my pjs. All day. HAPPILY.)
-Load or unload dishwasher (Touching other people's dirty dishes covered in who-knows-what? Ew. Not exactly the sort of thing I want to touch.)
-Mend one piece clothing, taking no more than half an hour.
-Tidy room.

As you can see, I seriously need help setting up habits. It's not good at all. In fact, I'm writing this post to put off going and doing my prayer, Bible reading, and Bible memorization. Yes, I'm that good at procrastinating. *headdesk* This is why I use Habitica.

Earlier, I used another mode of procrastination called, ART! Woohooo! I drew the Habitica logo! YAY! Oy...today is gonna be one of those hurry-up-and-finish-my-stuff-because-I-put-it-off-until-the-last-minute days... Anywho, here's my drawing. And then I'm off to actually stop procrastinating.