Hi Everyone,

I have a “Free Book Giveaway” of “No One Ever Asked Me That; Conversations on the Afterlife.”

This is a book that took me 12 years to write. The baby of the family was in kindergarten when I started and now he is at the University!

The giveaway starts on:

12-12-12
12-13-12
12-14-12

It lasts 3 days only.
It is the Kindle version only.

No codes are needed. Just go to Amazon and order a Kindle version and you’ll get it 100% free of charge.

Do you want to let others know? You could email some of your friends, if any of them have a Kindle.

You could announce it anywhere you want, blogs, etc. I don’t profit from it.

Thanks!
Clevsea
aka, Catherine Levison

 

 

How’s your Bible reading?

 

 
#1) Going Good !!!

#2) I’m plugging along.

#3) What Bible? Haven’t seen it all week.

If you’re in a reading “plan” how is that going for you?

 

#1) Couldn’t be better !!!

#2) It’s okay, thanks for asking.

#3) What’s a reading plan?

Personally, I’m doing pretty good. I read from Luke today and came across the part about selling your stuff.
“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:32-34 ~~Jesus

“Sell what you have…..” Wow.

I think that we mainly think of that passage about the Rich Young Ruler who was told to sell his stuff. Then we tell ourselves we’re not rich.

 

Question: What should I do if my husband does not want me to cover my head and yet I feel that I am supposed to as taught in the Bible?

Such a common question for the new covering woman. After studying, praying and coming under the conviction to cover she finds out her husband disapproves to a big extent. In fact he even asks her not to cover. Many times this is a non-believer in Christ Jesus and someone who doesn’t know the Bible or will not obey the Bible.

Recently this question was asked on a Yahoo group. In this case the husband said he wanted to see his wife’s hair and not to have it covered.

I have answered this at other times but these are today’s answers to this question.

Here is my input………….

A few ideas:

#1) Cover secretly when you pray at home. No one needs to know what is on your head during your private prayer time.

#2) Wear a beret with your hair down. That is how I cover. Details below.

#3) Collect some hoodies. They come in shirts and in sweat shirts. You can use the hood as a covering when needed.

#4) If he works in the day time you can probably wear whatever you want to while he is away and then go bare-headed when he’s home.

As to the theology of what to do I lean this way: When and if I have to choose between obeying my husband and obeying the Lord God concerning any clear teaching found in the Bible then I choose God over my husband. Some say, “Hey, that’s not submission to your husband.”

Yes, I’m aware of that. But that very teaching comes from the Bible, doesn’t it? The Bible is the source of the teaching on wifely submission.

With some things it’s easy to know when to choose the Bible over the husband who does not believe in the Bible. There are many, many things you would not do just because he told you to.

I do teach others to follow their husbands. I obey mine. It’s Biblical. However, on this topic I would cover regardless of what my husband said if he was trying to get me not to. But I would be nice. I would not flaunt it. I would try to find a covering that he could stand.

I wear a “sur la tete Beret 11 1/2 inch diameter beret” available for $13.95 at the Villiage Hat Shop which is a large on-line store. They don’t wear out and come in many colors. It’s not my only covering but it is my main covering. When covering I don’t put my hair up. This is an option for women who have disapproving husbands.

Lastly, there are some husbands who object to head covering and/or modesty, it happens. But SOME of these men change their minds and approve of it in short time.

You’ll start to look normal with some kind of covering on and look “funny” when you’re not covered.

You are going to find that at least 50% of covering women will think differently than what I just shared. At least half think that covering is wrapped up in submission and ought to not be done if the husband says “no.” That’s okay that they don’t agree with me. I’m not asserting myself as a “know-it-all” I am only sharing what I do and what I think.

Quiet and Simple and Real

is the opposite of …….

Loud, Complicated and Fake.

I want my walk with the Lord Jesus to be Quiet, Real, and without complexities and distractions.

Personally I find today’s church experiences to be far too loud, fake and complicated. It’s as though they want to awaken the flesh and not the Spirit with the noise and distractions. The current church experience gives zero time to quiet prayer. The public address systems are obnoxious and unnecessary.

Servanthood begins with a quiet walk with the Lord of lords.

“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.” John 12:26

“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall perserve them from this generation forever.” Ps 12:6-7

I have “servanthood” on my mind today.

I don’t participate in Lent but I think about it every year when it comes around.

I have never attended “high church” and that’s probably the main reason.

I have considered fasting off of something but it just keeps coming back to me to be His servant. Just serve. Just humbly serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

Perhaps 40 days of focusing on servanthood would be exactly what the Lord would have me do.

I have heard this “reason” for not dressing modestly many, many times.

It makes us stand out to dress modestly and to stand out is not modest.

Only because we live in an immodest world !

Modest women stand out because all around us we find short pants, tight pants, jeans, revealing tops, clothes designed to show off and to deceive.

As far as word studies are concerned I brought my word study which you’ve probably already read—but—I want to point out exactly what the words really mean.

Look at this based on I Timothy 2:

The first premise given is about katastole and the details are below but for now let’s acknowledge that it means long robe.

Take the words “long robe” and put them with these Greek words that were used to teach us in I Timothy:

2887 Kosmios, from the word kosmos which means orderly arrangement. Kosmios means decorous, of good behavior, modest.

127 Aidos from a word meaning downcast eyes, it means bashfulness meaning toward men, it means modesty toward God and it can mean awe, reverence, shamefacedness

4997 Sophrosune is from and literally means soundness of mind, sanity. Figuratively it means self control, soberness, sobriety

2885 Kosmeo, from the word to put in proper order. It means to decorate either literally or figuratively. It spec means to snuff a wick. It means to adorn, garnish or trim.

4241 Prepo, to tower up, be conspicuous, to be suitable, or proper, what is fit or right, become, comely

1861 Epaggello from 2 words meaning to announce upon, it means to engage to do something, to assert something about yourself. It is a profession or promise.

2317 Theosebeia from the word for devoutness, it means piety, godliness

Take all of that and you’ll see why I thought myself qualified to translate the teaching this way:

Women, wear a long robe that is orderly, that shows bashfulness toward men and an awe of God, also dress with self control and orderly garnishes. Not with braidings, or gold or pearls or costly clothes but what would be proper for a woman announcing her devotion for God by good works.

In short we want:

a long robe
bashfulness toward men in our clothing
awe of God in our clothing
self control in our clothing
orderly garnishes in our clothing
clothes that are proper for a godly woman to wear

Now for the WHOLE study if you have time:

Study for Modesty using Strong’s, by Clevsea

I Tim 2:9-10

“…that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.  Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” NKJV

For those who know how to do a study using the Strong’s numerical system of looking up a word meaning I will first of all provide the above passage using only the numbers which represent the Greek words.

VERSE 9

1135 – – 1722 – – 2689 – – 2887 – – 3326 – – 127 – – 2532 – – 4997 – – 2885 – – 1438 – – 3361 – – 1722 – – 4117 – – 2228 – – 5557 – – 2228 – – 3135 – – 2228 – – 2441 – – 4185 – –

VERSE 10

235 – – 3739 – – 4241 – – 1135 – – 1861 – – 2317 – – 1223 – – 2041 – – 18

You may print this out and use different colored pencils or pens to circle repeating words.

First, memorize that 1135 means wife or woman, either one, it’s one word that means 2 different things. Every time you see 1135 the word means woman or married woman.

Secondly there are a lot of words that you can ignore. 2532 is the word translated “and” so it is not as significant as some of the other words.

Thirdly I will tell you which numbers (words) above are key in this passage and then you can either do your own research or you can refer the word studies I have done for you.

For the modesty issue:

1135 (woman), 2689, 2887, 127, 4997, (NOTE: 4997 appears twice) 2885, 1861, 2317
 

Now to the word meanings of v 9-10. Try to read this even though it looks like you cannot.

Gune (1135–women) in katastole (2689–LONG robe) kosmios (2887– modest) with modesty (127–bashfulness toward men or awe if toward God) and sophrosune (4997–self control) kosmeo (2885–orderly garnish) themselves, not with braidings, or gold, or pearls, or clothing costly, but what is becoming (4241–proper and fitting) to gune (1135–women) announcing (1861–epaggello) devotion to God (2317–theosebeia) by works good.

Strong’s definitions more fully detailed:

2689 Katastole from the word katastello which means to put down, quell, appease, quiet. It can mean a deposit, costume, apparel, dress, attire. Vines dictionary says that it means connected to katastello, to send or let down, to lower because kata means down and stello means to send. a garment, let down; hence dress, attire in general. A stole is a loose outer garment worn by kings and persons of rank. Young says katastole means long robe and that is also what I say it means. Otherwise you *could* get the idea that you are to let your robe down so rather than anybody getting the wrong idea I like the word “long Robe” because it’s clear.

2887 Kosmios, from the word kosmos which means orderly arrangement. Kosmios means decorous, of good behavior, modest.

127 Aidos from a word meaning downcast eyes, it means bashfulness meaning toward men, it means modesty toward God and it can mean awe, reverence, shamefacedness

4997 Sophrosune is from and literally means soundness of mind, sanity. Figuratively it means self control, soberness, sobriety

2885 Kosmeo, from the word to put in proper order. It means to decorate either literally or figuratively. It spec means to snuff a wick. It means to adorn, garnish or trim.

4241 Prepo, to tower up, be conspicuous, to be suitable, or proper, what is fit or right, become, comely

1861 Epaggello from 2 words meaning to announce upon, it means to engage to do something, to assert something about yourself. It is a profession or promise.

2317 Theosebeia from the word for devoutness, it means piety, godliness

So how would we translate the passage?

One way would be this:

Women, wear a long robe that is orderly, that shows bashfulness toward men and an awe of God, also dress with self control and orderly garnishes. Not with braidings, or gold or pearls or costly clothes but what would be proper for a woman announcing her devotion for God by good works.

Time to set some reading goals.

 

 

• Are you in a Bible reading plan?
• Are you able to keep up with that plan?
• Do you receive insights from your Bible reading?
• Do you need to re-think your reading plan?
• Have you set your weekly goals yet?

 

My answers:

Having met my yearly reading goal so soon I am now “free” to wander through the Bible at will. I have been fascinated by Colossians and am reading it repeatedly. I think my goal will be to read Colossians daily this week. I feel the same about Philippians. Just when you think you know a little letter like that it takes off on you and proves once again that the Bible is Alive and Active and Sharper than any 2-edged sword.

Write down your reading goals on Monday and then on Friday look at them to see if you met them.

This type of accountability really works for some people.

My agenda is to get YOU into the Word of God any way that I can.

This question was posed to a group of head covering women:

Should I cover for dates with my husband?

Clevsea’s Answer:

Covering does not have to become bondage.

 It ought to be obedience.

One thing to consider is that many Christian ladies only cover at worship time when they are in church services.

 I cover for prayer in and out of church so I am not one of them but I approve of them and understand their application.

I dress differently for dates with my husband than I do the rest of the week so I believe I understand the question.

 Covering differently for date night might be an option. Just like I don’t dress immodestly but differently you might be able to cover for obedience and still make your husband happy.

Have you ever been to:

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/GarlandsOfGrace

 Or……………..

 have you ever sat down at the computer with your husband and looked together at all the many covering options?

Using this directory can help you find covering sites too:

 http://www.modestclothes.com/

 One more idea. My covering removes easily and I can put it on easily too. Sometimes I have it on and then remove it for a time during the dinner date when I feel as though I can talk without praying. You know, the time while you’re eating and just simply being together but not talking about the Lord, or prophesying, or praying. If anything like that comes up I just put my covering back on as I do when I exit to go back to the car.

I believe that all covering women will find out what the Lord wants them to do and will also seek the husband’s wishes and thoughts in this area. It may take time and prayer but it is possible.

Hello Everybody,

For those who are attempting to read their Bibles in one year let’s be encouraged !!

To read 1189 chapters in one year you will need to read a little more than 3 chapters a day.

3 chapters per day = ONE year
6 chapters per day = Six months
12 chapters per day = Three months

If you are a monk, a hermit, a nun, a priest or have a lot of time for Spiritual pursuits then you could read 100 chapters per day and complete the Bible in about 12 days…but that’s not for the faint of heart and probably not to be recommended to most people because we don’t want to develop a distaste for the Bible.

If you have set out for a 3 chapter a day goal then I estimate that you are finishing or have finished Exodus. Those are exciting sections to read, so much going on. As you go into Leviticus do not despair of the reading. I know you are not a Hebrew priest and the Hebrew priests are the target audience here in this book. Just read it anyway and know that you will finish it in about 10 days at the 3 chpts. per day rate.

Also know that there will NOT be a test and for any “fuzziness” in comprehensive will be helped by the fact that right after Numbers Deuteronomy will repeat the data in Leviticus only this time the target audience is on the people, the laity, instead of the priests.

Once you get beyond Deut. and into Joshua you are back to what I call “story time” not that the accounts are fiction—no, no, no, they are factual but the reading is more story like as you go through the histories.

In case I get too busy to encourage you later or in case you have been more at a 6 month plan then allow me to say that you don’t have to despair of I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles. I was dreading them this year ( I read the whole Bible most every year ) and as I got there I was thrilled—it was fantastic, so don’t set yourself up with expectations either way and you’ll be gliding through and understanding the Kings and the ways of the people including the punishments for turning away from God and turning toward idol worship.

It is well worth reading.

Any time you get a little “extra” time to read ahead of the 3 chapters a day plan — DO IT.

Why?

Because some time in 2011 you will get sick or busy or some distraction will pop up and then you’ll be glad you are a little bit ahead of schedule.

Another reason is that the size of the chapters varies A LOT. Some of the Psalms are tiny and some the chapters in the gospels are very long.

I pray for your Bible reading. I want you to be encouraged. I want you to know that YOU can do it and how happy YOU will be later this year when YOU finish.

I posted my log not to be discouraging — no, no, no. Quite the opposite. I am average and am still raising children. I have to cook and clean and have many responsibilities. If I can read the whole Bible in 1 month then surely you can in 1 year. It is perfectly do-able and each and every year I hear from several people who had not yet read their Bibles and then they do. They are happy about it too. One of these happy people was an older man who had been a Christian leader for most of his life. He was extremely happy when he completed the entire Bible.

The Lord Jesus is the Word, the Living Word, amen?
We want to know Jesus, amen?
To know the Word of God (the Bible) is helpful to know the Word of God (Jesus).

Make sense?

One other good thing that comes from reading the whole Bible is how many cultural lies each of us has concerning the Lord God. Many Christians have a “Santa Claus” type of God that is made up. They have been influenced by everything other than the Bible and they find that when they read the WHOLE Bible that they get to know God, the real God Almighty … not a false image they created from movies and songs and other people.

God speaks in the first person a lot in the Old Testament. You can get to know Him by what He has to say.

To get a good idea of this read Isaiah and highlight every time the Lord God is speaking. You will have a lot of highlighted sections after you finish the 66 chapters. Isaiah, if you didn’t know, is sometimes called a Bible within the Bible.

I have so much more to say but I wanted to get this out before the big storm hits. Many of us will lose power so my hope and prayer is that this gets read and then you will be reading by candle light.

So many blessings await you…go in peace and be diligent to read and pray.

I finished the entire Bible on Friday. I started January 1st and completed January 28th. I kept a log because it helps me and for the very few who have a tendancy to not believe that the Bible can be read in one month. When you see the reading on a day by day basis you can see it’s do-able.

I read at a normal reading pace, not speed reading. The New Testament I read as slowly as possible. I took notes, checked cross references, did some highlighting. I did not want to short change myself by speeding through it. I have read the entire New Testament within a week’s time before so I had set aside the last week of January for that.

How do I feel now? Like I miss it. I can read any part, in any manner I want to…it’s all wide open to me. My “read it all in month” was self imposed and I’m happy to have made it but I already do miss it.

The majority of the United States is about to have the worse snow storm of the season with 2 to 3 feet of snow and an ice storm too. This can be good news for Bible readers. Sitting by the fire with your Bible sipping a hot drink will be a good thing for quality time with the Lord.

Many blessings of Jesus to you and your Bible reading,
Clevsea

The Bible READing Log for January 2011

1-28-11 — Fri. I Tim 1-6, II Tim 1-4, Titus 1-3, Philemon 1, Hebrews 1-13, James 1-5, I Peter 1-5, II Peter 1-3, I & II & III John, Jude and Revelation

1-27-11 — Thurs. Acts 19-28, Rom. 1-16, I Cor 1-16, II Cor 1-13, Gal 1-5, Eph
1-5, Phil 1-4, Col 1-3, I Thes 1-5, & II Thes 1-3

1-26-11 — Wed. John 6-21, Acts 1-18

1-25-11 — Tues. Luke 11-24, John 1-5

1-24-11 — Mon. Matt 16 -28, Mark 1-16, Luke 1-10

1-23-11 — Sun. Micah 4-7, Nahum 1-3, Hab 1-3, Zephaniah 1-3, Haggai 1-2, Zech
1-14, Malachi 1-4, Finished Old Testament–and Matt 1-15

1-22-11 — Sat. Hos 1-14, Joel 1-3, Amos 1-9, Obadiah 1, Jonah 1-4, Micah 1-3

1-21-11 — Fri. Ezekiel 20-48, Daniel 1-12

1-20-11 — Thurs. Jer 40-52, Lam 1-5, Ezekiel 1-19

1-19-11 — Wed. Jer 17-39

1-18-11 — Tues. Isaiah 60-66, Jeremiah 1-16

1-17-11 — Mon. Isaiah 47-59

1-16-11 — Sun. Zero—nothing at all—see it does happen–: )

1-15-11 — Sat. Ps 146-150, Prov 1-31, Ecc 1-12, Song of Sol 1-12, Isaiah 1-46

1-14-11 — Fri. Ps 49-145

1-13-11 — Thurs. Psalms 45-48

1-12-11 — Wed — Esther 1-10 & Job 1-42 & Ps 1-44

1-11-11 — Tuesday — Ezra 1-10 & Neh 1-13

1-10-11 — Monday — II Kings 1-25 & I Chron 1-29 & II Chron 1-36

1-9-11 — Sunday — II Sam 23-24 & 1 Kings 1-22

1-8-11 — Saturday — I Sam 26-31 II Sam 1-22

1-7-11 — Friday — Finished Judges & Ruth & I Sam 1-25

1-6-11 — Thursday — Joshua 1 thru 24, Judges 1 thru 21

1-5-11 — Wed — Deut 1 thru 34

1-4-11 — Tuesday — Lev 14 to Lev 27, Numbers 1 thru 36

1-3-11 — Monday — Gen 23 thru Gen 50 & all of Exodus & Lev 1 thru 13

1-2-11 — Sunday — Gen 20 thru 22

1-1-11 — Saturday the 1st — Gen 1 thru Gen 20