Suede and Sunshade

  • Always seek righteous men!

    (Originally Posted on Opulence in the Divine)

    I’m here to give the advice I wish I had in far past and in the near past. I want to be a girl’s girl. For all women, young and mature alike. Even though I am still young, I have been through the fire with men. There are great men out there, but there are a whole lot of shitty ones. Today, I am going to explain what a worldly man is and why should avoid them. Then I am going to explain what a righteous man is and how to seek them!  

    Part 1: Avoiding Worldly Men!

    “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15-16, NIV)

    To keep it real, a worldly man is moved by his penis, his eyes, and his pride! Let me break it down and give some tips on how to avoid these men:

    1.    The Voodoo that you do!

    Think of a snake charmer. He plays a flute, and a snake rises out of the bag. You might think how cool that is. And the snake that comes out of the bag might be the most beautiful, alluring, and longest snake you have ever seen! (You get the symbolism?) But don’t be tranced girl. Ole Peter Piper has a motive. To lead you all astray and fulfill only his desires. That snake may be beautiful, but it is a snake, nonetheless. A crafty and cunning creature. All men got them, but only a few know how to tame them. Never trust a man whose snake got dominion over them! Much like how the serpent tricked Eve, sex can trick a woman into bad decisions. Avoid men who only want your time when they want sex. Also, have your guard up with words, the flute. The song that he is playing may be of sunshine and roses, but is it genuine? Or is it just an illusion?

    2. Ebony eyes, oh my!

    “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Mathew 6:22-23).

    What does it mean to have “lust of the eyes”? At first glance, I thought it meant to see a beautiful person and lust after them. It certainly means that’s. Go ahead and add the saying “eyes are the windows to the soul” to this examination. We see all with our eyes, not just physical beauty or sexual desire. Lust means uncontrollable desire for anything, power, riches, fame, status, extravagance. All these things come from the world, while these things are not inherently bad, they should not be the love(s) of your life! Avoid men who eyes only see worldly vices. As women, avoid these worldly vices yourselves, because they mean no good. See, I keep it real with both sexes. I got to give women some flack here because a lot of us perpetuate this crap and keep it going. My girl Eve said that the fruit of the tree of knowledge was “pleasing to the eye”.  Now look where we at. We got to push out babies with watermelon heads out of a hole the size of a pea. Let’s take it to modern times. I won’t say names here but look at a lot of women who promote “getting the bag” culture. Who date men only for their money, what they can provide for them materialistically, and/or how can they elevate in life because of a man. These men, more often than not, only see those women as sex objects and trophies. Please, let go of worldly status symbols.

    2. Pride and prejudice!

    “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18 NIV).

    We reach the “pride of life”. God really hates pride, after all it’s the first on the list of seven deadly sins. When you look on Bible Study Tools for verses on pride. It lists thirty, none of them positive. So, what is pride exactly? Dictionay.com defines pride as “a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.” So, what do these big words mean in layman’s terms. Arrogance and judgment. To be prideful is a loss in humility, and humility sounds a lot like humanness. And what’s the opposite of  humanness, godliness. And there it is! Seeking to be God is the bane of all. When we take pride in worldly things, we have turned away our humility. We have placed the world over God and the divine. So, this one is simple; Don’t date a prideful man! A man that loves the artificial world and takes pride in this love is one you should surely avoid.

    Part 2: Seeking a righteous man!

    1.   Chasing vs Seeking!

    “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeramiah 29:13, NIV)

    A lady should not chase a man, its unladylike, seriously. I am all for switching up gender roles, but when it comes to this, no ma’am. Let a man do all that huffing and puffing if they want to be with you. A lady should never sweat! And chasing isn’t bad. Its masculine and  shows determination. “But wait Sydney, didn’t you say lust of the eyes is bad and all?” I did, but keep in mind, the first thing you see in a person is their beauty. It’s about digging deeper. This is where the divide of love and lust form. A man getting to know you because they see something more than a pretty face! They see virtues and divineness. And generally, want to seek a meaningful relationship. Qualities of righteous men. Us women hold the power of seeking! “Ain’t that the same thing as chasing?” Nope. When you seek you are looking, but stationary. You don’t see me breaking a sweat do you? Women vet out partners, you have patience in choosing the right one. This is a feminine virtue. Never rush and show desperation! Cuz worldly men can smell that shit like a dog, and when you lie with dogs, you get flees!

    2. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine!

    “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, NIV)

    You, my sister. Are a precious little beacon of pure light. This is a light from the Lord. Never dim your light! But only allow the righteous, the worthy to take comfort in it. There are many demons out there to steal your light. What’s good about the light from God, is that it can be used as a defense. When you exude goodness and divinity, demons will be cast away from you. So please, be the best person you can be! Have good morals. Never lower them! As lowering them is diming your light and allowing demons to easily enter. God will send a righteous man your way. Remember, God’s timing is always right!

    3.   A man after His own Heart!

    “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (Song of Soloman 2:16)

    What makes a man righteous? A righteous man plays no games when it comes to love. He is clear, concise, and firm about what he wants. He doesn’t come with baggage, because that was throw out in the trash long ago. He is not ruled by lust, or worldly vices, or pride. He is a humble but strong man. They love the natural world of natural virtues. Truth be told, he got a light too, and he does not take from you, but combines with you. Thats how God is. God wants you to be part of his kingdom, his light. A blessed union is a divine union. And that my friends, is what makes a man righteous!

    Thank you for taking the time to listen! All of your support warms me up inside. Share it with anyone who might need this!

    Vaya Con Dios! And Prosper!

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  • Women are divine!

    (Originally Posted On Opulence in the Divine)

    ( I linked bible verses so the post will not be bogged down. The NIV translation is used since it is the best in-between for word-for-word and thought for thought readability!)

    Being a Christian is great, but hard! And being a Christian woman is even harder. There are certain bible verses, certain men, and certain ideologies that seem to create a wedge between womanhood and the religion. I want to try to close the wedge. Showing that the will of God for woman is divine and transcendent!

    Let us Begin!

    1.             Let Paul tell it; we are the problem!

    By the time Paul wrote First Timothy, he was an aging man. He wrote these letters to in fact, Timothy! And up and coming preacher who Paul left instructions to so gospels can carry on! In Timothy 2:1-15, Instructions for Worship, Paul lays out the expectations for church. Now verses 1-7 I can get behind. Jesus died for us, the church is a place for knowledge, God is great, I can get behind all that. Now verses 8-10 is when things get iffy. He mentions how men, not man, men, should praise without rage or dispute. Okay that’s fair, church should be peaceful. But then he says how woman should dress modestly, decently, no fancy hairstyles, shiny jewelry or expensive clothes. Damn okay Paul. While I do agree with dressing modestly is proper for church. Having a good hairstyle nice jewelry, and expensive clothes is not a problem, as long as you’re there to only appease God. Paul is trying to say church is not a vanity show. It isn’t, but where is the smoke for men? Now I’m a woman in the present day. So, in I think coming in a tank top and Nike shorts with Adidas slides isn’t really modest or decent. And a man coming in a full Gucci suit, Rolex, and Gucci socks to match is along the same lines as a vanity show. We should not judge, but we should be fair. And yes, yes, it could be common sense that it goes both ways. But why go out the way to mention woman only and not mention men either?

    Now, verses 11-15, oh boy. I’m not so much concerned with the woman should be quite thing, (believe me though I have issue with it). But with the whole “Adam came first, but Eve sinned first thing.” Now Paul, let’s be for real here . Yes, Eve came from Adam. But without God, both of them would not be here. And yes, Eve ate the fruit first, but Adam ate it right along with her when offered (Genesis 3:6-7). No protest, no concern, nothing! And, get this, Adam was the first one made and heard God’s warning about the tree first (Genesis 15-17)! Just saying!

    We have to be honest when it comes to the Bible, men wrote it. Paul was a man. He was a great preacher no doubt. A lot of his teachings present the words of God and Jesus’ in the best way possible. With that being said, he had an opinion, just like we have ours. It is important to form your own understandings of the book, something I always say!

    2.           Stop listening to unworthy men!

    Ladies, please stop listing to unworthy men talk about submission, Most of those chicken heads do not even know what submission means Submission is a very funny word, especially in the Bible. Let’s analyze Ephesians 5:21-33, Instructions for Christian Households. It holds that infamous line. Now, submission isn’t only for relationships. All around are verses on submitting to God. The verse I like the most is Job 22:21. This verse is the meaning of submission perfectly. As with God, submitting to him brings peace, protection, guidance, and happiness, and love! Now, if us as women are supposed to submit to men like the Lord, then we should be getting all the prosperity that comes with it! Any man who thinks a woman should be treated like a second-class citizen is unworthy. As God said in Genesis 2:24, being one flesh means equal parts combined. Woman and men bring different traits to a relationship and that’s what makes it beautiful!

    Listening to worthy men is important. For they know the truth. Those men don’t command submission with their spirit, but with their Spirit. They are men of God and passion. Your womanhood will shine a light on those people. It is also important to know ready Ephesians 5:21-33 in whole. Paul gets some points back from me here!

    3.           Women in the Word!

    The Bible was written by men and is very male-centered. I won’t say for men though because there are actually important female figures scattered around.

    The most famous is Mary, she is the mother of Jesus after all! In Catholic beliefs, she is the most important saint, above the apostles even. You have Eve, probably in second place. She is the mother of all. You have Rachel and Hannah, who stand for patience in God. Deborah, the only female judge who stood for leadership. Esther, who is a Queen in fact, who stands for courage. There are quite a few others in fact. Most named woman in the bible were held with high regard. I feel though, Mary and Eve are only what most people know. Other women are not as talked about in ministries and bible studies.

    Now, we can’t talk about woman in the bible without mentioning Jezebel. Well, to summarize, she is not in a high regard. She became Queen of Israel, persuaded her husband the king to worship a false god, and had many citizens and prophets killed. Well, her karma would be that she throw out a window and be eaten by dogs. Go read Kings 1 and 2 (pretty much the books telling the tales of Israel’s downfall after David). Ever heard of the “Jezebel spirit” but didn’t know what it meant? Well, there it is. Now she was no saint, certainly not. But her story represents the many stories of how the devil can take many forms; as a human, animal, or thing! Jezebel stands for the modern wicked woman stereotype. Tempting, vain, power-hungry, and vicious. A lot of people use her as an insult, without knowing the full context. Many people use it to attack a woman’s beauty, sexuality, and intelligence. Without mentioning the thousands of people, she had murdered, which (I hope) no woman has committed and is far worse.

    4.           Christianity and Feminism? Oh my!

    Is it even possible to be Christian and a feminist? Well, yes! Stated in part one, God made woman the same way he made man. In part two, I said stop listening to unworthy men speak on the Bible, let your womanhood shine a light through darkness. In part there, I mentioned female biblical figures who stand for virtuous traits (minus Jezebel). Lasty, God maybe mentioned as a He. But He definitely created and inspired womanhood and femininity. Grace, empathy, nurture, radiance, intuition; just to name a few traits. And to minimize and disrespect womanhood, is minimizing and disrespecting Him. Go forth and be proud that you are a woman because God made you perfect. Nobody can take that away from you!

    Thank you for reading!

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