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15 Nov

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Hi, I'm Andrea. Welcome to A Pure Radiance! My desire is to encourage women to look to Jesus and be radiant, freed from shame and living in the purity that overflows from a vibrant relationship with Christ. Let's pursue Jesus together! Read More…

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One more day. I don’t need to have the strength to show up for one more week or month or year, not yet. I just need to show up one more day. And then do it again tomorrow. And then the next day. And the next.

I don’t show up in my own strength. I can’t. But in His strength? Oh, His strength is made perfect in my weakness. And His mercies are new EVERY morning.

So, sweet mama, when you don’t know if the crying baby in your arms will follow Christ faithfully as an adult and it worries you . . . maybe just try showing up today, and hold her and love her and trust God with her.

Dear worker, when your job feels really pointless or terribly frustrating . . . maybe just try asking God to give you a good attitude today, see what opportunities arise to practice that, and show up, one more day.

Faithful friend, when you’re tired of loving people who need your love but don’t heed your advice, and you feel like your care and concern and words are wasted . . . maybe just try listening and praying one more time, show up, and wait to see what God might do.

Perhaps you will discover that it was really the seemingly little things that were actually the big things all along. Perhaps it will be showing up that makes the difference. Perhaps God rewards faithfulness more than we guessed He would.

Keep showing up. And may God bless you as you do so. {full post linked in bio}

#apureradiance

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“Influencers” are all the rage these days. Platforms are given or sought, and we all eagerly follow those whose “brands” we like. For good or for evil, social media has made it easy for many to share their thoughts and opinions with the world, setting themselves up as guides and people of influence.

James 3:1-2 deserves our consideration: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body”- James 3:1-2

But we all wield words, every day, and isn’t that the definition of influence and teaching?
Whom do you influence? Whom do you teach? Where is your platform? Perhaps the details are unimportant. Perhaps it makes little difference whether you have thousands of Instagram followers or are “just” home with a few small children. Perhaps God calls each of us to bridle our tongues, regardless of who hears, and use our influence for His glory.
Maybe the warning in James 3 is less about running away from the role of teaching, and more about taking it seriously. Desiring influence not for the sake of position, but for the sake of walking worthy of the Gospel of Christ and giving grace to those who hear.
Godly influence will never be about the number of followers, be they many or few. Words that glorify Him aren’t wasted, whether they become a best-selling book or are heard only by a two year old.
I don’t know what your platform looks like today, or who is hearing your words. I don’t pretend to have any of this figured out. But today, maybe we can, together, seek to know God, and ask for that knowing to lead to words that are worthy of the calling to which He has called us?

May God give us His grace to do so. {link to full post in bio}

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Fun evening sharing about my favorite ministry! Lots of great connections made, and I love educating people on life before birth. ❤️ #lifeoptions #prolife #community #savethemothersavethechild #preborn #womendeservebetterthanabortion

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I must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, but joyfully allow Him to decide how to reward me. Even if it’s not on this earth.
I can pray, because He is a loving Father who wants me to ask, and He delights in giving good gifts to His children. But I must accept whatever He gives as good. Even something like a slap-in-the-face answer to prayer.

That was not God giving me a stone when I asked for bread. It wasn’t.

That was God being good to me. Though I cannot see how and why, and though it does not feel good, that was God answering a prayer in the very best way. God did not withhold something good.

That’s where I have to land. When God says no, it’s in context of a bigger yes.
I don’t pretend to understand. I don’t know what it is like to undergo intense faith trials, when it must cost everything we have to believe that God actually is, and that He is actually a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
But today, I get to practice. The lessons will not end, and will likely increase in difficulty. So what I believe about God today matters. How I respond to unwanted answers to prayer matters. How I choose faith and ask God to help my unbelief matters.

For at the end of the day, if my heart’s desire is to come to Him and please Him, He says I must have faith, believing that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek HIm.

May we have that kind of faith. Come what may. And may He Himself be our greatest reward. {Link in bio for the rest of the post}

#apureradiance #wellwateredwomen #givemejesus #givemejesusjournal

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My 2020 planner from @faithfullifeplanner came in the mail! ❤️ I got the same one as I used for 2019, as it has been a huge source of encouragement, recording God's faithfulness, and staying grounded in what really matters (a necessary thing for this task-oriented girl). A picture is worth a thousand words, so scroll through for closeups of the blank planner and a sample of how I used it. Stickers and pretty pens additional (from Amazon). Highly recommended. #faithfullifeplanner

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I am thinking today of faithful love. Last week, I spent a bit of time in a high school classroom, talking with teens about sexual integrity and various things related to it.

It's a privilege to talk with them, but oh, what a dearth of marriage this culture has. It’s a gaping hole in the lives of these teens, not to grow up watching faithful love, but instead witnessing divorce and abuse and abandonment and selfishness and lust.
My married friends, never forget the responsibility you carry. It matters how you live out your marriage and keep your vows. And my single friends, never forget the responsibility you carry. It matters how you live before marriage and how you go about entering marriage.

For hope is not lost. Standing out as lights in the darkness are those who choose faithful love.

Marriage matters. Our culture desperately needs it. The next generation has a void that will not be filled unless we do our part. We who are part of the bride of Christ would do well to take this seriously. It is not accidental that in specific church instructions, like in Ephesians and Colossians, marriage instructions take such priority. We of all people should do marriage right – because we know that it is a mystery that refers to Christ and the church.

Marriage is not about us. But it does require us to do our part. Married or not-yet-married. So please, take up the gauntlet. Choose faithful love. {full post link in bio}

#apureradiance #sacredmarriage #marriagematters #sexualintegrity #sexualriskavoidance #sraeducation #biblicalmarriage

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The calling of Christ is a high one. Sexual integrity matters. What you do with your sexuality can either bring great honor and glory to God and tell a beautiful story, or it can ruin the picture He is wanting to show the world through marriage.
Sex is about becoming one. It is a gift within the covenant of marriage, where God has made two people one, a consummation and renewal of covenant, but how very contrary to His picture it is to become one with anyone outside of covenant.
Please, “Flee from sexual immorality . . . You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6: 18-20

Do what it takes. We are none of us above this. I don’t care if you’re 13 or 33, married or single. You don’t outgrow the need to flee it. Flee. Run. Run to Jesus. Don’t just put off sin, but put on Christ. Don’t just set boundaries, but pray to have a heart that loves holiness and longs to please God more than it loves sin and to please itself. Set before you the consequences of sin, and the opportunity to glorify God and the accompanying rewards.

Maybe you have a past. Maybe you’re sinning now. Turn. Repent. The wonder of the lavish grace of God is that it is so ill-deserved.

Yes, “such were some of you (speaking of unrighteous, sexually immoral people). But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11

So now, live that way. Live as a person who has been purchased by the blood of Christ. Pursue holiness, even as He is holy. Let the price that has been paid for your sin move you to thankfulness, and a firm vow to walk worthy of the calling you have been given. {link in bio} http://apureradiance.com/a-call-to-sexual-integrity/

#apureradiance #sexualintegrity #givemejesus

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