Respect your body. protect it and only give it in the context of marriage.
‘However, he would not heed her voice; and being stronger than she, he forced her and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to
her, Arise, be gone!’ (2 Samuel 13:14, 15 NKJV)
It does not mean that you can keep a man’s heart by giving him yourself. The contrary may be true.

Lord, if I’m feeling rushed today,
I need Your eyes to help me see
That when an interruption comes,
It is an opportunity. —Sper

Driving a huge truck over the icy roads of northern Alaska would seem to be a task that requires a sense of humor. But when one driver heard another driver named Alex laugh often and rather loudly over the truck-to-truck communication system, he grew irritated. So he made some disparaging remarks about Alex and his good-natured guffaws.

Not long after that, the critical driver lost control of his big rig and ended up in a ditch—up to his axles in snow. And guess who came along the isolated road and saw his predicament? That’s right. Alex.

So, what would you do? Keep on trucking right past with a hearty laugh at the other guy’s trouble? That’s not what Alex did. He stopped and spent several hours helping dig his critic out. When he was done, he simply said, “Any opportunity I can have to make amends, I’m happy to do it.” And then, of course, he laughed.

What a lesson for all of us. Isn’t that what Christ commanded us to do in Luke 6—to help out even those who seem to be our enemies? The next time someone says something about you that you don’t like, think of Alex—and don’t just laugh it off. Do something positive for that person, and in so doing, you may make a friend.

http://bible.org/seriespage/parable-talents-matthew-2514-30-luke-1912-28

e.g. “when you drink, dont drive”,”when you drive, don’t drink”
“don’t go into pre-marital sex till you are ready”
“smoking causes lung cancer”
society does not outrightly put up a fence
but are just drawing lines.
我们希望因为有提防的建立而脱离危险。
🌀See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, (Ephesians 5:15 NKJV)
三思而后行！免得得罪神，免得我后悔。
🌀不要急！神未曾留下一样好处给生命正直的人。in terms of relationships, money etc.
🌀Be prudent in terms of money, relationships, handling all matters.
🌀redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:16 NKJV)– do things of value!!
🌀Is what I do glorifying God? Is what I do meaningful? Is what I do stimulating for my thoughts and values and views? 爱惜光阴。每一个时间都是机会。 我们能够节制吗？go back to reading the world! 我们处在邪恶的时代。whatever time is not spent on things of value is spent on things that are meaningless that are 邪恶。
🌀不要作糊涂人，要明白主的旨意如何。 不要醉酒，酒能使人放荡；乃要被圣灵充满。 (以弗所书 5:17, 18 CUNPSS)
放荡–失控了
醉酒是栏杆。Paul wants us to set up a fence here.
🌀We need to set up 堤防. Eg restrictions on ourselves.. In work, in entertainment, do not drink more than x glasses.
🌀this is not just on drinking. Where are our weaknesses? Set up fences against these weaknesses. May not be drinking. May be money management, may be relationship.
🌀Eg. Relationships. Guy and girl should not go traveling alone. Guy should not stay over at girls house etc. if we have these 堤防 set in place, we will feel uneasy, embarrassed, uncomfortable, when we come across such situations.
🌀If you don’t set up the fence you will go further and further and finally fall over the cliff.
Eg. Gambling. One eg.. Don’t step into casino. Etc. Everyone should set up their own 堤防. If we don’t set it up it will be very hard for us I conquer life’s traps and trials along the way.

so amazing Habakkuk..so much to learn from him.. so very difficult..

Bible passage: Habbakuk 3:11-19

Yet I will Rejoice

Life in our world can be difficult. At some point, most of us have wondered, Where is God in my trouble? And we may have thought, It seems like injustice is winning and God is silent. We have a choice as to how we respond to our troubles. The prophet Habakkuk had an attitude worth following: He made the choice to rejoice.

Habakkuk saw the rapid increase in Judah’s moral and spiritual failings, and this disturbed him deeply. But God’s response troubled him even more. God would use the wicked nation of Babylon to punish Judah. Habakkuk did not fully understand this, but he could rejoice because he had learned to rely on the wisdom, justice, and sovereignty of God. He concluded his book with a wonderful affirmation: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (3:18). Though it was not clear how Judah would survive, Habakkuk had learned to trust God amid injustice, suffering, and loss. He would live by his faith in God alone. With this kind of faith came joy in God, despite the circumstances surrounding him.

We too can rejoice in our trials, have surefooted confidence in God, and live on the heights of His sovereignty.

 12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

How many times, I wonder, do we become frustrated that life isn’t working the way we think it should? We keep trying ways that seem right, but things keep turning out wrong. Instead of following God’s Word, we continue trying to find our own way.

The singing bowl reminds us that we can’t expect life to go well if we ignore the instructions of the Designer (Deut. 4:40). Failing to obey divides us from one another and separates us from God. To fulfill His plan for the world and make the way of salvation known (Ps. 67:2), we need to follow His instructions about living and working peacefully together. When life doesn’t go well, it may be that we’ve stopped following God’s plan.

And after many years of marriage, my husband and I are still learning that it’s important for us to continually express our gratitude to each other. When one of usfeels appreciative, we try to verbalize it—even if we’ve said it many times before about the same thing. William Arthur Ward said, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

Showing our gratitude is obviously important in human relationships, but it’s even more essential in our relationship with God. As we think about the many blessings we have received, do we express our thanks to Him throughout the day? And when we think of the amazing gift of His death and resurrection for forgiveness of our sins, do our hearts bubble over with awe and thanksgiving? (Rom. 6:23; 2 Cor. 9:15).

The Master Craftsman is the Holy Spirit, who chips away at flaws in our character to make each of us like Jesus (Rom. 8:28-29). And as we yield to His workmanship, we will find that the secret to the final product is the Craftsman’s touch.

a passage pasted by fenella:

In life, nobody owes you ANYTHING. Once you realize this fact, you will NEVER stay disappointed at anyone or any rough spot you encounter in life!
Because in this life, people WILL disappoint you. People WILL drop the ball. People WILL hurt you. People WILL say hurtful and harmful things to tear down your good name. People WILL step on your head in order to climb the corporate ladder or get ahead. People WILL cheat you!
Joseph knew disappointment more than ANY of us, but he didn’t dwell on it and he didn’t allow it (or the 13 years of hell he went through) to tear down his self worth.
Don’t stay disappointed at people… because at the end of the day, no one owes you a thing… and when it comes down to it God can use the evil, harmful actions of people… to accomplish GREAT things in your life!

a really encouraging passage.