In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of staying focused in our Christian lives. They encourage the audience to write down their goals and pray about them daily. The speaker also addresses the issue of self-image and encourages individuals to seek God's ways and not be consumed by worldly desires. They emphasize the importance of building relationships and making Earth a happy place for others. The sermon also touches on the topic of thought life and encourages individuals to be accountable to someone and seek help when tempted. Lastly, the speaker acknowledges that everyone struggles with feelings and fears, particularly young people who may go through cycles of conviction and salvation.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, AFPA, 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Dear Lord, we do thank you for this evening. Thank you that you are our God. Thank you that you strengthen those that are weak. Thank you that as we give our lives to you, we turn our eyes to you. You change us. You make us like you. Thank you tonight, Father, for my little girls, for Autumn Rose, for Amy Rochelle, the precious gifts from you. It's because of them, Lord, that you've given me a vision and a dream, a dream of what your princesses can be. And, Lord, I plead with you that you would be glorified through this, that many young girls would come out from this session with their eyes turned towards you and their faces aglow and that they would be a light everywhere they go, Father. Please bless our evening, Father. I pray you would give me strength. I pray that you would keep my thoughts together. You know how I struggle sometimes in losing my thoughts when I'm saying something, Father. And I pray that you would clear my mind from anything that's going to keep my thoughts together. And just bless the girls with open hearts and all of us, Father, myself included, that we can learn together. We thank you for your presence. In Jesus' name. Well, my goal for you is that till tomorrow afternoon, everyone that has not been looking into their maker's space will be. And you will love him for what he is and you will discover what he had in mind for you. And you would know that peace that passes all understanding and that joy that is better than anything this world can give. We are all brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. That is the way God looks at us. We are fellow heirs with him. That's why our meeting is about princesses. That is talking about those of us that have given our hearts to him. We are accepted into a new family, a family that we didn't belong into before. But we belong now into the family of God. God is our Father. Jesus is our Lord and brother because we are fellow heirs with him. We are of the royal family, a family that we have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. So many times we feel a little hesitant about things, you know. We're conscious of things we do or say or think and act or wear and we have nothing to be ashamed of. Our Father, our God, is the one that made everyone in the whole world. He's the one that has a dream for everyone in the whole world. We have been adopted into that family. And being adopted into that family gives us a lot of opportunities in life that people don't have, that are not adopted into that family. Number one, we have the blessed privilege and the opportunity of being the most happy people in the face of the earth. How many of you want happiness in your life? Surely every one of you do. I think if we're honest, we all have to admit we seek after happiness. We pursue happiness. Every one of us pursue happiness. It's in one way or the other. We might not realize it or even stop to think about it, but we are pursuing happiness. Can someone tell me why we pursue happiness? Well, let me tell you why. This is how we were born. Every one of us was born and created. Our own unique shape, our own unique looks. But there's one thing we all have in common. And that is Christ kept a puzzle piece out of our life for one reason. He knew that we have our own will. We can make our own decisions in life. And he knew there is absolutely nothing that is going to make us go back to our makers. We're going to take him for granted. We're going to forget about him. We're going to pursue our own dreams. So he took something out of our life in the shape of himself. And nothing will ever, ever fill that piece except he himself. There's a lot of us that seek happiness in the wrong places. When I was 15 or 16 years old, for maybe a year or two, I went through a period in my life when I wanted happiness so badly. I was saved. I was very clearly saved when I was 12 years old. And I had a very clear baptismal when I was 15. I had turned 15 about a week old when I had a baptismal. And that was one of the happiest days of my life. But after that, it seemed after the thing was done, so to speak, that we can do in our spiritual life, be saved and be baptized, I didn't pursue God like I could have. And we didn't quite have the teaching either in the setting I was in as we do now as far as a vibrant, growing Christian walk. And my devotional life dwindled down to maybe five minutes a day, if that much sometimes. I often went to bed, and I thought, oh, I didn't have my devotions yet. So I'd quickly get my Bible and read one verse and close my eyes and quickly think about it, maybe a half minute, and then quickly pray the same prayer I prayed every night pretty well, went through my list of people. I was not finding fulfillment in my Christian life like I could have. And I started longing after the world. If I was outside somewhere and a vehicle went past with the radio going, there was something in me that just ached. I ached to be part of the world. I sought for happiness in that direction. I thought maybe if I'd been that truck with music going and a man that loves me, maybe I'd find happiness, true happiness. I thought all kinds of selfish things, and it kind of came to a head. I'd look through magazines, pictures of men and women and dressed in these neat clothes, and I just longed to be there. And it came to a point when I was 15 years old, I was working in someone else's place, and I remember one day it kind of came to a head. I was looking through a magazine, and I don't remember that it was a bad magazine. It was just maybe a Sears catalog or something with pretty clothes and things that girls go after often. And I was looking through that, and I had such a yearning for something, and I started thinking if I could, maybe I should just run away. Should I just go away and try it a little bit? And it was such a messed up mix in my mind. I felt when I was, I was scared too because I knew I still wanted to serve God, and I was scared too because I had promised Him in my baptismal vows that I would stay true to Him. And if it wouldn't be that I was baptized, I don't know what would have held me, but I was honestly scared to go against those vows. And I did love my family, but it was still, it was just that missing link somehow that I wasn't as happy as I wanted to be. And I started, if I remember correctly, I started really crying that day, and I just cried and cried. It sort of came to a head, and after that it started sort of going away. I was 16. I joined the young people and was in their activities and got kind of involved in that. But it wasn't until I was maybe 19 or 20 that I started discovering just how happy it is possible for a young single girl to be. I discovered, I'll have to show you this. A lot of people think that clothing will bring them happiness, and they spend hours selling, dreaming up new patterns and clothing and buying things, browsing through the store. They can't, they're never satisfied. They keep thinking maybe this next one will satisfy me. Does it fill the puzzle piece? It doesn't fill it, does it? Christ is much bigger, that piece is much bigger in little Amy's head there, and clothing will never, ever fill that piece in her mind. Well, some people long for popularity. If I would just be popular, or if I would just have a boyfriend, or if I could get married, if I would be married, I really think I could be happy. No, Autumn Rose, marriage does not bring happiness that lasts. Marriage is wonderful if it's in Christ, but you don't need a man to make you happy. A man cannot every minute of the day be with you, helping you when you're discouraged, trying to lift your spirits up. It is totally impossible. There's no person on the earth that can fill that void of happiness. Others fill it with sports, games, anything. They have to have something going all the time, once, twice a week. That doesn't fill the void either. Others think if I would just have enough of money, or I'll go shopping, I'll do anything I can just to fill that void, and none of these fills. The only way you can ever truly be happy is once you let God fill in that puzzle piece that He took out, and He will do that. He will do that very well. He fills every last piece in there. He covers it up. He fills your whole face out, your whole body. With so much delight and happiness, there's times you're going to feel like putting your arms above your head and twirling down a hill, because you can hardly contain it. That's how I felt, I don't know how many times, after I discovered where true happiness comes from. Psalms 90, verse 14. Oh, satisfy us early with Thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. What is more beautiful than a rejoicing heart? What is more happy? Isaiah 55, 2. Do you have it? I don't know why. Oh, here it is. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Then Isaiah 58, 11. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones. And thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose water spills not. Being a spring of water is one of the loveliest feelings you can have in the world. When you literally feel like there's just a spring inside of you, you can hardly contain it. And that is totally possible with every one of you. Elvis Presley discovered that nothing in this world satisfies. Did you ever see a man that was more loved by people, more adored, more worshipped, had more money, more popularity, more girlfriends? What did he do in the end? Does someone know? No. He committed suicide. He committed suicide. He discovered there's nothing in the world that brings happiness. Some of us would like to go this way with God. We say, OK, God, I'll give you a chance. I want you. But I want a little more than you. I want a little bit of sports. I want a little bit of my own way with my clothing. Is there a space left? Do you feel yourself half-wasteful with God? There's still a space left around this. There's no way of putting one foot in the world and one foot of trying to serve God that you can be happy because your space is not filled. The only way your space can be filled is by Jesus Christ alone seeking Him and His will for your life above anything else. OK, once we have discovered that Christ is our happiness, and we believe it, but there are times that the trials of life do kind of tend to drag us down. I mean, there's nobody that's sane that has been Christian a long time that wouldn't say that we do struggle being happy sometimes, even as Christians. And it's not that we can't find it, but we don't always have it or we don't practice it. I would like to teach you how to cultivate happiness once you are saved. Once you are saved, probably the first few minutes after you are saved are about the happiest you ever experienced in your life. Right? After that, your feelings sometimes come and go, and I would like to just show you different areas where you can cultivate happiness in your life, what you can do to keep God in your heart. Happiness is not something that is to be hard to find. God is the essence of happiness. All we need to do is connect our lives into Him, and we have all the happiness we can ever desire. It is not to be hard to find. We are not at His mercy, hoping it chooses to like us and stay. Once we learn how to find true happiness, our outward circumstances will not be able to move us or depress our spirit. God is a complete God. Anyone in Him will feel complete and happy. So how are we in Him? That sounds like pretty easy words, to stay in Christ, but how do we stay in Christ? How many of you read the book Practicing the Presence of God? I see several of you have. I wish every one of you could read it. That is a very good book. When I read it, it put such new thoughts in my mind as far as I can experience God every part of the day, not just when I have my devotions or Sunday mornings or when I go through trials, but I can experience Him the whole day. So I would like to tell you, you need to practice the presence of God through your whole day. You don't have your devotions and get through with Him in prayer and then you kind of lay Him away like a book and you go on with your day. You need to practice the presence of God. You talk with God. You talk with Him through the whole day, what you're seeing. It doesn't matter if it's little. You don't always have to say in Jesus' name, Amen, and close your prayer. You just say, Thank you, God, for that sun. Thank you that you made it in a way that it warms my skin today. It feels good. Thank you, God, for my children. Thank you for my mother, for my father. And you keep on going throughout the day. Every day you wash dishes. Thank you, God, that we had food, that we can wash dirty dishes. You talk about what you see. Thank you, God, for these pretty leaves outside, for this flower. You walk down the street. Father, be with that man I see there. It looks like he's unhappy and he doesn't know you. Help him to find you. You see a baby in a carriage. Thank you, God, for little babies. They make life so precious. Because God is the author of happiness, and he is happiness itself. You delight yourself in him. For once, you lay your fears to rest, and you realize he made you. You are his own special taste. He made you different from anybody else. And you delight yourself in that. You think, You know, he loved me enough to make me different from everybody else. Tell him every hour that you are his. And one thing I found that was really fun to do, and almost comical because my daughter follows me now, but I started making up my own words on familiar tunes, hymn tunes. And I would just sing. It didn't matter if it rhymed or not. I'd just sing, You know, Lord, how I love you, and I thank you for my husband, and I thank you for this day, and just thankful songs throughout the day that I again and again did. And maybe, you know, just when I needed his help, I started singing, Help me, Lord, now. I need your help. And after a bit, little Autumn started singing songs. You can't beat her. The words she comes up with, it was really a blessing to me to see that that spirit carried through. You need to learn to be impressed. Some of us think we are grown enough if we are not revealing how impressed we are about something. And that is not true at all. God likes His gifts to be appreciated. And you need to learn what it is like to appreciate His gifts, to be impressed, be impressed with people, be impressed with events, just be impressionable. Get a flower. Pull the leaves apart. Look at them and thank you, God. How did you ever think up of to make something like this? Thank you for a baby's ear. Thank you for the crack of ice cubes when you pour water over it. Thank you for the smell of hay, the smell of the lawn after it's mowed. Learn to become vocal. Don't just think everything inside. There is tremendous power once we learn the power of saying something out loud. It does something to us. That is why saying our prayers out loud seems to do more for us than when we just say them silently. Hearing our own selves say, I choose to be happy today, Lord. I choose to be thankful to you. And being impressed out loud to Him. Wow, God, that rose is just beautiful. Just saying it makes your heart feel more that way. Thank Him for the rain. Thank Him for the sunshine. You're reading a book. Every several chapters, stop and say, Thank you, Lord, that you're with me. You're watching me read this book and you love me. Act your way into right thinking. We are not to wait and wait until just the most wonderful feelings wash over us. We are to act our way into right thinking. We are saved Christians. We will act like it. We will thank Him that we are saved. We will just again and again, we'll just do joyful actions and that produces a joyful heart. It's amazing, but that's just the way it works. And memorize scripture. Memorizing scripture is a very powerful way of being happy when things are going tough for you. I didn't realize that so much until this last year or two. I often wanted to memorize scripture more and I just didn't get it done until we started doing it during family devotions. And I started learning scriptures that were tremendously powerful for me when things were going wrong for me. One time, it especially stands out in my memory, I was having very much pain one day and I was just bending over in a chair and I felt like any position I'm in, I can hardly move. I just had a lot of pain and there was nothing that looked bright or cheerful at the moment. And I started thinking of the verses I know. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. And I went on into, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. And I just said verse after verse after verse and it was amazing. I was one of the happiest women on earth, I think. And outwardly, I was in tremendous pain. I was just thinking, you know, there is nothing, nothing that I can face in life that I can't be happy in because I have God within me. Say the Lord's Prayer. When you're out for a walk, say the Lord's Prayer and add your own words to it. Be original. Our Father which art in heaven, thank you Lord that you're up above those clouds today and you're in my heart. Hallowed be thy name. I worship you because you are my Lord. We thank you for the daily bread. We thank you for the food. And with each phrase that you say, add your own words, what you're thinking of in that minute. Keep your quiet time with all diligence. That is very important to be a happy Christian. It helps you stay in tune enough that you can stay in tune within the rest of the day. God never changes. If we put our source of happiness in Him, we will always be happy. As we tap into Him. Because our circumstances always change. We have no guarantee of always having a husband. We have no guarantee of always having our youth. We have no guarantee of having brothers and sisters or of having these clothes or these foods. But we have a guarantee that, Lo, I am with you always. Even onto the ends of the earth. A girl who is full of happiness and contentment is a joy to all who come in contact with her. You will be like a sunbeam that everybody loves to have you come around. Maybe you need to put a paper beside your bed every morning when you get out of bed. Psalms 90.14 He fills us each morning with His constant love that we may sing and be glad all our life. The devil isn't ignorant. He also realizes that God is the only true source of happiness. That's why He has so many toys out there for you. He has so many that in a lifetime you cannot reach the end of it. It's only if a person is open enough to realize that this stuff is not bringing him happiness that he starts looking up instead of around for his happiness. Outsmart him. He wants to outsmart you. But you outsmart him. You play his game well and find the true source of happiness where he will end up in frustration. Trying to stay a Christian to save ourselves from hellfire and yet longing for and dabbling a little bit in the world is one of the unhappiest places you can be. It truly is. Many people have discovered that. You're too scared to really do a lot of bad things yet you're longing after it. It's one of the unhappiest places you might as well go out because you are so miserable and God judges your heart anyways. But you're better than going out. You're better turning around and giving everything to Christ because you won't find happiness out there. You cross back and forth until your inner heart breaks up into dividedness, purposelessness. What is more hopeless than not having a purpose in our life? And you get frustrated. You lose your victory. Your strength is reduced. Your outlook is confused. And your joy is totally gone. Find God. Find Him and learn to say, The light of God surrounds me. And think of it. The love of God enfolds me. The power of God protects me. The presence of God watches over me. Wherever I am, God is. Our wonderful, wonderful Lord. Let's talk about contentment. Contentment is very closely linked to happiness. But once we discover what the source of happiness is, we still tend to kind of grab things out here and there. Because we're not forced to, we don't find contentment in Him. Contentment means to be easy in your mind. To be satisfied. And we're entirely honest with ourselves. Are we satisfied? Are we satisfied with what we have? Are we satisfied in Christ? Let's look at Philippians 4.11. Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Hebrews 13.5. Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Contentment comes from learning where our happiness comes from. And making choices that we will not search, we will not allow ourselves to look for things outside of Christ to satisfy us. God looks at contentment as a great gain to you spiritually. Do you want what He wants? Do you really? Are you mature enough to cultivate decisions that are not necessary financially, but to please His heart, to be more worth to Him, and learn contentment? Suppose you wouldn't have a new dress for a whole year. You would not buy one new CD or tape. You would have no outings, maybe one birthday party. Would you be depressed? Would you be depressed if you couldn't go, because it's your therapy? Would you be depressed if you would have to limit your eating to only meal times? You could never go to it when you're a little off in your mind. Would you be depressed if you would not be allowed to read a new book for a whole year? Those things are challenging. They're challenging to me, believe me. And I start wondering, do I know what true contentment is? If you love sewing, if you love to eat, if you love to read, if this is a therapy to you, is it your God? My question is this. When you are feeling blue, what do you do? Are you letting God be your God, or are you not cultivating contentment in your heart, and you're going to these other things to try to find your happiness? If buying that new dress or pullover sweater, or other sweater, gives you a boost, is that the God you're following? Do you realize how easy it is to make a God out of things? God wants to be our source of contentment, not our continuing change of wardrobe, our constant new music, or the hours spent on the sewing machine, or our weekly or monthly activities with other people or youth. If you love to do something or get something, check yourself. Would I be depressed without it? When you go to the thrift store, it costs a little. Do you beg for something every time you go? Can you see something that is beautiful, and would fit you to perfection, in a yard sale, or in a thrift store, and you can pass it with a smile, saying, I don't need it. We have money. We have enough money for yard sales and thrift stores. Are you making decisions to cultivate contentment, or are you letting it get out of hand? Don't look at it as the cost of money. Look at it like God sees it. He sees it that it is costing you the virtue of contentment, and contentment is one of the greatest virtues you as a princess can have. A lack of contentment costs much in the way of your happiness, because you always need to get something. Your future husband's happiness, your pocketbook, and it is turning your eyes towards something away from Christ. I have learned that when I just don't know, sometimes I know. One thing that really stuck with me as I was growing up, if I said I would like to have a new dress, that mom's first question was, do you need it? And, oh, that wasn't a question I liked. But it really stuck with me. And it was a good thing, because it taught me, you don't get everything you want. You get what you need. And there are still times when my conscience bothers me. I go to the store, and I just don't know, am I being overly conscientious, or do I need this, or don't I need this? I have learned there is nothing that works better than to go away from the article, not look at it, either go to the other end of the store, if I'm in another state and I can't come back, and to pray about it. And to seriously think of the poor people in the world, to make my decision when I'm not looking at the thing I want, because it doesn't look as important when I'm not looking at it. Or I have already gone home for three days, and I've told the Lord, if you want me to have that, I'm going home to pray about this for three days, and if you want me to have that, you give me peace in my heart about it. After three days, you often, even if the temptation is gone often, you'll know whether you need it or not. We save ourselves money, drawer space, unnecessary buying, by not buying on the spur of the moment. Well, we want a matching sweater for every dress, or something, you know, and I'm not critical, I'm someone that colors do clash very badly with me, if I have a green sweater and, say, a purple dress. And I do give room for some of that, but I think a wiser way might be in buying a neutral shade that matches with different dresses. You won't have as much stuff at home. Suppose you think, well, I'll just give away everything I don't need. Then I won't feel guilty. I agree that, you know, I just need, you know, five dresses maybe at a time. I'm not saying for everything, but say for church or for everyday. I just need five dresses, so whenever I want a new dress, I'll make one and I'll just quickly give one away. Try giving away the new stuff. See how long you'll last at that. Cultivate contentment over your used, but still usable articles. It does matter, because you're teaching your heart to need more and more things. Discontentment is a costly cancer, but I'm too lazy to change because I like the feeling I get. You know, it gives me a little boost every time I buy this new article. Sometimes, you might be at a financial crisis with your husband, down the road, and you have not learned the art of contentment. You're going to be a very unhappy, miserable woman, and you're not going to be very fun to be around with. It's much easier to choose with God over a period of time to let Him work contentment in your heart, than to let Him take that idol away and crush you, ruin your family life for a while. So you wonder, well, okay, I see that I'm discontent, but what do I do about it? You need to pray for a contented heart. And I know what I'm talking about because I had to. I started realizing one day, I am getting too much satisfaction out of making a new dress. I need to pray that God gives me contentment or out of making a new pattern. And I started praying about it. And the more I prayed about it, the more I realized my responsibility in the matter. You can't just pray about something and not feel guilty if you don't face up to your responsibility. I started making deliberate choices to not get something I want. I knew it was good for me. Be organized when you go shopping. Go only once a week or once a month. Stick with the list you prepared before you went. Don't look through catalogs until you have learned contentment. That's why the catalogs get sent out. They know that they cause discontentment. They know that they make money. Do not spend on something because you can afford it, but only when you need it. Ecclesiastics 4.6 says, Better is a handful with quietness than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. You know who wrote that? Solomon wrote that. He had more wives than anybody ever had on the face of the earth. He had riches, probably beyond us counting or knowing. And he learned that better is a handful with quietness in your heart than both hands full with vexation and travail in your spirit. It's a costly cancer. It will never ever satisfy you. Because it's always... I've experienced this for myself. I've bought something. Maybe, you know, first time I see it. And I come home and I think, why did I spend my money for that? I mean, I'm sort of glad I have it, but I wish I could have spent it on something else now. And it really doesn't satisfy. It might give you a boost the first time you wear it, but, you know, if you like to wear something because it's new, you can only wear it one time and then it's not new anymore. Okay, let's move on to the attitude of servanthood. Sometimes we get a glimpse in a very holy time in our life where we're under a message and we suddenly get this feeling in our heart like a whole new world is opened up in front of us and we're just amazed at what we see. And one of those things that has opened to me in different times is the attitude of servanthood. When you suddenly realize what happiness you could have if you would decide from this day on it's others I'm going to make happy and not myself. There is a whole world of thinking that can be done in that. Let's read Romans 12.1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Once we are a princess, we belong to the king. He has our body as well as our mental capacity to love. Sometimes there's so many Christians that seem to think being a Christian is all in the head. It's what I believe, but it isn't. It's giving absolutely every part of you, your body, your hands, your feet. It's giving your entire body to him. And it is following the highest example that we have, which is Jesus Christ. What kind of person was Jesus Christ? He was a servant to the core. There's no other word that better describes Jesus than a servant. He always went about helping others. We as princesses, it is our responsibility to be servants. That's what we're here for. We're here to glorify God, not glorify ourselves. The way to glorify him is to bring others closer to him. The way we bring other people closer to him is not by being selfish. The best way to bring others to him is by being concerned about what they like, what they... about their welfare. You just look at... When you see two children fighting and you see the one that grabs a toy and the facial expression on his face and you see the other child that gave up and the facial expression on her face, which child are you drawn to? You're drawn to the unselfish one. And you can see just by facial expressions that she's the happier one. People will be drawn to Christians that are selfless, not to selfish ones. First of all, I'd like to talk a little bit how to separate yourself from your body. That's one of the biggest problems with undisciplined princesses. You need to bring your body into servanthood. And the things I'm sharing with you are absolutely not possible unless you are a princess. You won't have the power to do these things. Absolutely not. But you have all heaven on your side if you are a princess, and it is possible. We have learned a great victory once we have learned to talk our body's desires down. Mornings when the alarm clock goes... Beep, beep, beep. Who likes that sound? Yeah, I know you don't feel like getting up, body, but you're getting up. You're not my boss, but I'm your boss. You're getting up. I know you don't feel like brushing your teeth, but I'm going to brush your teeth. I know I had plans for the day, but I'm going to listen to mom's plans. One servant heart can change the entire atmosphere in your home. One servant heart. You have a family that is filled with selfish people. You can change the entire atmosphere from selfish, griping words to words of politeness by you possessing a servant heart. It brings an awakening, a touch of tenderness in a home that is otherwise calloused. It doesn't... It doesn't have a lot of warmth in it, but you can bring that warmth in. You want respect from your brother? You complain he takes advantage of you? He's just... Well, he's just a brother. Have a servant heart. What can I do for you today? Go bring his shoes for him. And it's not possible that we have an entire servant's heart in a selfish family without getting weary. We do get weary. We need to remember our reward in heaven, for one thing. Another thing, check your heart. Are you weary because you are gritting your teeth and deciding to be a servant, but you still want your own things? You can't be a servant without entirely telling God, I surrender my plans for the day to you. You need to surrender to Him. But there are times we need an hour to refresh ourselves if you get tired. I think it would be good if you could talk to your mom. If you're starting to see that you're getting very frustrated and it's kind of getting beyond your ability to cope with, I think you need to talk to your mom and arrange it with her. Surely if everybody works together in a home, you can have one hour a day free, maybe in the afternoon, right in the middle of the day, right after lunch, just to kind of refresh yourself and relax. I think it's possible if you are dependable for the rest of the day. A lot of girls, they want their time and they will fight for their time all day long. And all it does is bring a great frustration between your mom and you. And if you decide together what hour you have free and you're consistent with that and then she knows that you're dependable for the rest of the day, I don't think it should be too much of a problem. How do I acquire a servant's heart? I can't be a servant without having the heart for it. But how do I get a servant's heart? Often we say so many things glibly and, oh, you need to be this and that, but our question often comes back, well, how do I do it? I mean, I need some practical advice. Maybe some of this doesn't sound as practical, but it is practical. You need to pray every day for a servant's heart. You need to study Christ's life and remember He is your example. Every morning when you're combing your hair and looking in the mirror, remind yourself, this girl in the mirror is God's princess. My mission today is to bring gladness to every soul I come in contact with, to be a servant to that soul. You need to stay focused. We won't get anywhere in our Christian life unless we stay focused. You need to get a tablet out and just write some of these things down so you can stay focused and every day remember to pray about it. And remember, this is the cause I'm living for. Okay, let's talk about the attitude I have about myself. How many of you are totally satisfied with every physical feature you have? I don't see one hand. I wonder what you'd say if I would ask what you want changed. Probably a lot would say I want to be thinner. I want to be... Well, girls probably say I want to have a better figure. Probably a lot of women too, by the way. And some would say I wish my nose wouldn't be crooked or I wish I wouldn't have freckles. There's just a bunch of different things that we all find a reason to decide that we're not pretty enough. We go jogging miles a day. We fast meal after meal. We wear very tight girdles, very uncomfortable ones. We take pills. We have surgery. We pine away in wishful thinking. Does it add one thing to your stature? You look at the world. Is the world ever satisfied? You look at the layers of makeup they put on. They look like dead people. They really do. You look at the lengths they go to in money to do surgery to take out or build up. They are constantly trying new things. You can see just by sitting back and staying away from it all, just kind of disassociating yourself with either side, you can see that they are not satisfied. Not at all. They're always trying new things. I mean, as soon as the dark makeup is in, after a bit, the light makeup is in. And well, if they're not satisfied with that, they have to try something else. This is really something that burdens me. This is something that girls struggle with tremendously. Somehow the world has infiltrated into the church that makes you think you aren't really pretty if you're not extremely big-busted or really pretty if you are very big-busted. Or you're not very pretty if you have big hips or small hips or your waist is, you know, two, three inches away from it. And there are so many hours of, yes, it's agony to a girl that a girl goes through in thinking over her physical makeup because she's afraid she might not get a boyfriend or she might not be satisfactory to a husband. Or there's just so many things and it is so, so false. I want to persuade you that you are absolutely beautiful exactly the way the Lord made you. It doesn't matter what the world says. What makes us decide what's beautiful? Who said a short nose is better than a long nose? Who said blonde hair is better than dark hair? God has such a huge variety of tastes that He likes trying out. And He loves every last one of those tastes. I mean, He loves freckles so much He had to give you a lot, Miriam. He loves curly hair so much He had to give you it, Melissa. He loves straight hair so much He had to give Miriam dark straight hair. He loves every different aspect of hair nose, eyes, cheeks. I think our problem is we need to look through God's eyes and not through the world's eyes at what is beautiful and realize the world is making this box smaller and smaller and more and more unrealistic. All it does is cause so much heartache so much money. The world knows it will get money by persuading people to do that. We need to learn to respect our Maker. So many times we think well, it's not really wrong to want to be more beautiful or really wrong to, you know do this or that but I think we need to respect our Maker and His tastes. When He made you you are a total miracle among six billion people or more. Nobody is exactly like you. He planned you for His own special miracle to admire and to love. And we turn back why hast thou made me thus? Is that respectful to God? Is that learning to love what He loves? And it's such a vicious cycle because every time we give in we create more pressure for those others that are not giving in to this. I would like to show you how God feels about your looks. Let's look at Isaiah 43 6-7 I will say to the north give up and to the south keep not back bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth even every one that is called by my name for I have created him for my glory I have formed him yea, I have made him God is taking all the responsibility for your looks on Himself and He's saying I'm doing it because I want glory through this. Isaiah 44-24 Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer and He that formed thee from the womb I am the Lord that maketh all things that stretches forth the heavens alone that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself He made you from the womb from the womb already He decided how long your nose is going to be He decided how long your toes are going to be He decided how you're going to look overall He had such a special plan for you you weren't an accident He decided that in the womb already Isaiah 43-4 Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honorable and I have loved thee therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life Here He's just assuring you He loves you you are precious and honorable to Him Isaiah 62-5 For as a young man marries a virgin so shall thy sons marry thee and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride so shall thy God rejoice over thee You dream of a time when you'll be married and your husband rejoicing over you and that puts pressure on you sometimes because you're hoping you'll be enough to rejoice over Your God is rejoicing over you exactly how He made you and I would like to say this Anybody that is found in God you want a godly young man you're worried he won't like you if he is found in God his tastes are what God's tastes are He will love you precisely exactly the way you are You stop worrying about all this stuff that's coming in from the world The young man God has for you will love you unconditionally exactly the way you are In fact, he'll be prejudiced The very things you bemoan about yourself He says, I rather like that about you That's you, it's part of you God has never made a flop Never ever has He made a flop Dare to be that miracle Girls that are not at peace with themselves copy other people They copy their expressions They copy their cool words God is so bored by it all He made you to be original to be like yourself He doesn't want a bunch of cookie cutter princesses He wants you exactly how He made you and He wants you learning to grow and thrive and appreciate what He has made you Exodus 4.11 And the Lord said unto him Who made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb or deaf or the seeing or the blind? Have not I the Lord? John 9.3 Talking about the blind man He was telling the disciples that the works of God should be made manifest in him That's why he was blind And what I would like to ask you is this Are you allowing God's works to be manifested in you like peace and joy over the way He made you or are you bitter towards your creator? You have no right whatsoever to be bitter towards your creator because He has nothing but the utmost purest motives and goals for you and He wants you to have happiness above anything else and if you pursue Him you will find it Let go Let go of all this self-image stuff And I'm not I mean I realize if we have struggles with a lot of weight gain because of undiscipline in our life I'm not talking about that I'm talking about accepting your body the way the Lord made you and not putting such extreme pressure on each other by talking about it all the time Let go Let go of all these things Live in the sunshine of God's perfect unconditional love for you As you live in Him you'll learn how to be yourself and you'll learn how to become what God had in mind when He created you Great Christians all their lives copy others whether it's copying the world or whether it's parroting spiritual words phrases or ideas that are the end thing Once you're real it doesn't say that you won't be saying some of the things other people will be saying but it means you will obey Christ whether it's the end thing or not and you will be yourself People can sense it when you're yourself You will start shedding the stuff that doesn't come naturally to you and you will be yourself Saddish lives or trends grow old quickly They are not based on God So if you don't want to constantly be changing anchor yourself to the Great I Am He never changes You will be at peace and at rest about yourself and pray about it God is not above praying about the smallest prayers we give Him If we know we struggle with the way the Lord made us with our body shape or with our looks Pray about it Pray about it I can't say it enough Make God your friend Tell Him I struggle There is nothing that gives you more power than telling God exactly like you would tell your best friend He is not above answering and if you are sincere you will get over it You will be at peace and at rest with yourself Be every bit in God and you will be honest through and through Now how to make yourself beautiful? Now this sounds contradictory But it's not totally We do desire beauty We were created to love and appreciate beauty and the world does have some of an influence on us We strive against it We fight against it But and we can have victory in it But I want to just give a few notes that will make you a person that people absolutely love to see come around whether you are beautiful or not according to the world's view It is natural to want to be beautiful If you come to terms with God in your looks yet realize that others will judge you as being homely Strive to be the kind of person that people will love to see coming because of the peace and gentleness you radiate The most beautiful people might be envied and admired but not loved Someone that fears the Lord will have a clear countenance and innocent eyes and she will be praised There is nothing anybody can put on his face that surpasses the beauty of a clear countenance and radiance that comes from God There is a refreshing look to a neat, clean girl You have to remember in this all you cannot just decide I'll be sloppy I'll cure my pride I'll be sloppy You'll take pride in your sloppiness Our heart is that deceptive You can't go by that You need to strive to be neat and to be clean Remembering who you are You are a princess You would not be impressed if you would truly see a king's daughter and she would be very sloppy You wouldn't be impressed with the kingship or the king the kingdom You wouldn't want anything to do with it A radiant countenance carries an appeal an attraction in a world of unhappiness There is nothing that will make people more uncertain as to whether you're beautiful or not than if you have a radiant countenance A radiant countenance has a way of making those features that you hate so lovely because there is such a light like a glow that comes out from within If people ask Is she beautiful? They won't know what to say Well I don't know I guess I didn't think about it She's just wonderful to be around with And she is She is pretty Yeah Come to think about it She is She just shines Untidiness and carelessness hide the beauty of kind deeds But greatness of soul and nobility of heart hide the homeliness of a face Let your charm be Your heart and your spirit shining out spilling out to other people not to your face and your form It's the charm and the spirit within you that builds relationships that makes earth a happy place for you because you will make it enjoyable for the people around you and the more they are enjoyable or are enjoyed by you the more you will enjoy them I think a lot of young girls in our churches today need to do exercise I think every night before you go to bed if you struggle with your looks or with your physique I think you need to make a commitment I will no longer talk about this with my girlfriends All I am doing is putting pressure on her and her on me I think you need to pray every night to God Behold the handmaiden of the Lord Be it unto me according to thy word Okay, let's talk about our thought life I was a very imaginative teenager I doubted you could be worse than I was I mean I love to imagine things so well There were times I couldn't even work I had to sit down and think out my story I don't know how many fires I was rescued from How many young men I pulled an arrow out of or you know a hunting accident helped him I don't know how many times I had something deliciously romantic worked out in my mind And my cousin and I would get together and we would laugh ourselves silly over the things that we imagined And the older we got the more we started realizing is this right or isn't it? We really questioned it back and forth once in a while How far should we let our thought life go? And I realized that I am not judged by what I do but what I think and what I didn't want to do And the older I got the more it started speaking to me I think God started laying his finger on my heart I think this is an area you need to work on It is giving you discontentment All it does is give you this blue longing feeling for you know something better in life or oh if I could just live in the 1800s or if I could just go to a dance or if I could just have a boyfriend or I would be happy It's not wrong to dream but it is wrong to dream things that will cause you to be discontent We wouldn't get anywhere if we wouldn't dream something We our dreams is what makes the world progress There would be no missionaries without dreamers But there also would be no jails without dreamers Dreams can be good or bad How many of you would spend time daydreaming about how to kill someone? Not one of you would you? I hope not It's totally preposterous in your mind That's something I wouldn't even consider doing Well why? Well we all admit it's unprofitable and it would hurt others So that's the reason I would not daydream about killing someone because it's unprofitable and it hurts others How much of the time do you spend dreaming about stuff that is unprofitable and it hurts others because you are not helping them when you should be helping them? Or it hurts others because it makes you grumpy and discontented with your lot in life Let's read 2 Corinthians 10.5 Casting down every imagination and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Ok You have a lot of knowledge Where you have been raised you have had a lot of teaching It's the things you are imagining Are they exalting itself or overriding in your mind Are you committing things or doing things that override the knowledge that you know in your head would be wrong to carry out Cast it down Casting down imaginations every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ I don't know how many years it took me or how long it took me once it started dawning on me the harmfulness of daydreaming things that I wouldn't commit in person or in front of others It was a hard struggle because I loved to daydream I mean I didn't need romance novels I made them up myself and it took a long time to get over that when I had this delicious feeling come over me Oh! A story is making up in my mind you know I got to go sit down and think this one out and it was a fun feeling it really was but I started realizing that afterwards it does not yield the peaceable fruit of peaceable fruit of righteousness of contentment and I did I did get victory in it It is totally possible to have victory in it The problem is some of us think well is it really that harmful? It is because what you think that's the kind of person you are and you don't realize it often You think well I think things about boys but I do not act boy crazy Well you have no idea how much it shows on your actions Absolutely no idea Any mature woman can soon pick it up when a young girl is boy crazy and you can see where the thoughts go where they run You think well what can I think about you are cutting off all my avenues of fun or of you know I shouldn't if I can't buy things or if I you know I am supposed to be content now and I can't even think things out of my sphere you know of what I can do I think you need to have your mind stretched a bit I think you need to broaden your horizons There are many wonderful things to think about get study books study up on science or read a lot of missionary books or you can dream you can dream many dreams just don't dream the hurtful dreams don't dream the dreams that make you discontented dream thoughts of service not discontentment and every time you get a thought that comes to your mind that is questionable or shady to do in deed in deed in action in front of Christ himself you reject that thought as soon as it comes in you think well how can I it comes so strongly I hardly have the power well it will be a long haul if you are used to daydreaming about a lot of things but I think target prayers is a good idea if you determine beforehand every time I am tempted to go off in this you know kind of trend that I happen to I will pray for this one person for these two people and you keep always the same person because if that temptation is coming really strongly you are not going to feel like thinking now who should I pray about always have the same person in mind and pray for him pray for him earnestly get down on your knees and pray for that person and in praying for them and putting your mind to that that does a lot in taking off that temptation or you can memorize scriptures and that is powerful memorize Psalms 119 and you recite it and recite it when that temptation comes how to conquer daydreaming about boys and how to keep your emotions free from it I have a thought for you never think of anything that did not happen do not imagine anything that did not in person happen and that is comfort you think I can't help it like this person you can help it if you refuse to think on anything in your mind that would have transpired in your mind that did not transpire once again think constantly on God you have to choose not to think on certain subjects it does come back to your responsibility Proverbs 3 6-7 in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path be not wise in thine own eyes fear the Lord and depart from evil make choices not to think on subjects acknowledge him in every area in your life including your thought life be accountable to someone if you are very tempted with thoughts make a person you really appreciate preferably your mom be accountable to her go to her when you see that temptation is overriding you you almost can't stop the thoughts go to her or turn on a tape of scripture verses or of worshipful music dream of doing exploits for God today for your family and in years to come on missions ok let's turn to my feelings and my fears every one of us are very human and we do struggle with feelings and with fears a lot of our young people seem to be caught up in a cycle of they get saved they are convicted they get saved well first of all we start seeing something wrong by ourselves not just because our parents have forbidden it we start feeling a call or a tug in our heart maybe it's time to give my heart to the Lord our time has come we yield everything to Christ and we feel so happy afterwards it lasts maybe a week or two or several months all of a sudden we realize we are not as happy as we were at first and you start having these thoughts I'm different it doesn't work for me maybe I wasn't saved I love the world too much to be saved you see it all back and forth and I'd like to tell you something about your conscious mind and your subconscious mind everything you have seen and done and thought and read in your life is fed back into that computer of the subconscious mind when you are saved you are overriding the subconscious mind you are consciously making a decision to follow Christ after you are saved that subconscious mind is going to eject back things that you had read seen thought even feelings you had before you were saved and many of us just I'm not saved I can't feel this way this is impossible and we get scared we panic by our own feelings and we just we give up I'm not a Christian I couldn't think something like that or feel that old worldly feeling rise in me if I would be a Christian being a Christian is not being filled with wonderful feelings all the time there are times we're going to be in the heat of the battle but we won't even pause to think am I happy or not you're going to be struggling and you're going to be fighting a real adversary it's joining in a fight this is normal you might as well forget once and for all that once you're a Christian everything is going to flow like this and it's going to come natural and easy for you to be good and sweet and not think of anything you thought of before you have your subconscious mind to work with and it's going to take a long long time to feed enough stuff into that subconscious mind that the good stuff will start coming back out that's why people that were not saved until their 20s or 30s or 40s they have to work 10 times harder than young people that make the decision when they're 10 to 12 years old and they often just get overwhelmed and it's not that they have to be overwhelmed but they are overwhelmed and they think well I give up and then you really struggle and think well am I saved or am I not that's the question am I saved or am I not how can I feel this way you need to lay aside every last question you have about your salvation and you need to begin to invest as much time in God's side as you did in Satan's before time will tell whether you were saved or not pray all day as you work pour over scriptures pursue God with your whole heart God reveals himself to every sincere seeker he is not God if he wouldn't and he does not he will reveal to you whether you were saved or not a lot of the time the problem is just that we are not investing time into God's kingdom we are not giving ourselves over to God to invest time in his kingdom and then of course we are filled with doubt we don't have the assurance of his presence he abides with those that do his will and if you are just going to be too lazy not to invest time you are going to lose sight of him you are going to be discouraged and after a bit you are going to give it up and who knows if you were a Christian or not you don't always know unless you pursue him and you seek him and he will reveal himself to you sometimes when girls go through maybe ages 12 through 15 or 16 it seems when they are 16 often their emotions stabilize a bit they go through hormonal changes and your feelings are very frightening and unstable sometimes you feel like pulling out your hair you feel like crying and crying you feel like you don't know yourself anymore if you are a Christian over that time it is hard I know it is but you need to keep two things in your focus I choose to obey God in everything God loves me unconditionally you keep those two things in your focus and you will pull through you do have tumultuous feelings from needing to relax you burst into tears over little things take a quiet hour by yourself by the stars or the birds think on God read a bit from His word think on how God loves you rethink your sovereignty goals and pray do not pray our Father which are in heaven I struggle and I pray that you would help me in Jesus name amen you need to learn how to pray you be yourself with God He knows you better than you know yourself you go down on your knees it is me again God I need your help forget about all the superficial words of prayers you have ever heard or read and you cry out to Him and you imagine as you pray He is up there and He is listening to the very words I am saying often we think I have to pray and I pray but I don't want to think about it really truly think about it and believe it that God is up there and He is listening to me just thinking of Him listening to you lends so much power and so much peace to you make Him real imagine about Him if you want something to imagine about ok let's talk a little bit about fears people who are not abiding in Christ are fearful people they live as if there is no God Monday through Saturday they fear sickness they fear death they fear what will happen to their children they fear poverty they fear moral breakdowns they fear being inadequate they fear others will think they are inadequate they fear burglars murderers goalies and ghosties long legged beasties and things that go bump in the night it's just everything they just fear we fear so many things and basically it's things that are in our future here is where you can use your imagination you imagine that you are in a stormy ocean waves are several stories high you are going up and down and up and down and you are holding your breath you are having a heart attack with every wave you are so fearful about everything we fear that huge wave ahead this terrific valley between all of a sudden we realize he won't let me fall out he is right with me I am entirely safe I am right with him once we get that into our head we start to glory in the triumph of the hardship another thing to think about God cares more about your happiness than you do yourself he might not think so but he does he has more of a capacity to feel than you have a capacity to feel he is so much greater than us in every way he might rearrange your plans to show you what true happiness is but believe me it is true happiness we think well I am scared of that type of happiness it is true happiness it is happiness that nothing nothing can conquer God will not give you more in his heart than he knows you can handle be thrilled allow yourself to be thrilled when you are going through a trial God has this much confidence in me that I will call on him through this believe on all things believe that all things work together for the good of them that love God you need to believe that if you want to have peace when accidents occur you need to embrace that promise you want victory you need to know that God himself your very own father is in control pray to him once again tell him your fears ask him for his peace I cannot say that enough tell it to him and ask him and he will constantly picture yourself when you are going through a hard time I'm just like a little bird perched on my father's hand that's how safe I am I have a bunch of verses but I don't think I will turn to them about our sins fear of future temptation fear of future calamity there are verses in the bible you look for them and you find them hidden in the hollow of his blessed hand never foe can follow never traitor stand not a surge of worry not a shade of care not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there stayed upon Jehovah hearts are fully blessed finding as he promised perfect peace and rest okay let's touch on my goals and God's goals girlhood is a time of making ready for the rest of your life you are building yourself into what you are going to be this might discourage some of you but it's the truth once you are 18 you have pretty well formed your character I will not say God cannot change you he has all power to change you but for those of you that are younger than 18 you think I'll wait till I'm a little older that won't happen but you are till you're 18 if you're rebellious till you're 18 you're going to struggle with rebellion pretty likely for the rest of your life unless God does a total miracle in you you will never go beyond your ideals that's why it is so important for you girls to put your ideals high you will never change anything or grow anything anywhere unless you are willing to change something you are doing now we think oh I want to go to this girls meeting I want to learn I want to grow you will not grow unless you're willing to change something you're doing right now that's very thought provoking I realize I go to church to listen to the pastor and I want to be more like Jesus I will not be more like Jesus unless I will change something somewhere where my toes are being treaded on a good goal is worth working for nothing gets done without discipline or dedication to your goal if you're a painter you need discipline and dedication if you're a secretary you need hours of dedication and discipline to learn how to type if you're a housewife it probably took you years to learn the art you need to spend time spend a lot of time pursuing your goals you write out your goal tonight when you get home this is my goal and you spend time with that goal it takes patience one thing that often encouraged me that my Daniel used to say was this when a potter is molding a pot and the wheel is spinning there's a lump there he just puts a gentle pressure on that lump so each time it comes around it's just molded a little more and a little more we would think grab that lump out but it would totally ruin the pot Daniel says if you want to change pray about it be consistent in praying about it but be patient over a period of maybe a year and you hardly realize that you are totally changed and you no longer struggle with it be patient if you don't get it the first time the wheel is coming around and he'll put pressure on you and he'll it's going to down play your goal music you listen to a CD that makes you feel it doesn't matter quite as much take it away it's not worth it you won't grow friendships you have a friend that really puts a lot of pressure on you that makes it hard for you to reach your goal give that friendship to Christ and be willing to give it up if it has to be like the man with a pearl it costs you a lot it costs you everything to grow as a princess and to be what God wants you to be the true princess will set her goals at the highest possible point to bring God's glory not to outstrip her friends any goal that will bring God less glory is not a noble goal talking about the goal to be popular the goal to be best dressed the goal to be in the in group so to speak that is not a noble goal our hearts cry should be psalms 25 4 show me thy ways O Lord teach me thy path I just now had to think of a verse and answer back to him thy face Lord will I see thy will thy face O Lord will I see thy face O Lord will I see thy face O Lord will I see thy face O Lord will Lord will I see thy face O Lord see thy face will I see thy face O O Lord will see thy face O Lord will I see face O Lord will I see thy face O Lord will see thy face O Lord will thy face will I see thy face O Lord will will I see O see thy face O Lord will Lord will I see thy face O Lord will I see thy Lord will will I see thy face O Lord will I see thy face O Lord will I see thy face face Lord will I thy face O will will I see thy face O Lord Lord will I see thy face O Lord will