This chapter is titled A Special Hatred. It goes through how we are passionately loved by God and passionately hated by the enemy!
No matter what type of childhood we came through as women, no matter the size of the wounds, there is the same theme, an assault to our heart. We all still are asking the Question we've been asking from childhood, am I lovely, do you notice me?
What is really going on here?
Throughout history, there has been great suffering put on women, simply because they were born female. In China, girls are the less hoped for gender to have, many are left by the roadside to die. In years past, if they were let live, they would have their feet bound, which caused a crippling effect later in life.
In Jewish history, Jewish women were considered property with no legal rights, as in many cultures. They were not allowed to study the Law. It was common for a Jewish man to pray, "Thank you, God, for not making me a Gentile, a woman, or a slave".
An Indian proverb says that "Educating a woman is like watering your neighbor's garden," meaning educating a woman is a waste of time and foolish.
Sexual violence is rampant throughout the world, and includes little girls. More than 1 million girls are sold each year into the sex trade.
So, where do these horrific situations come from, what is this truly about?!! Men have certainly had an effect in this, but there is more to it.
A Special Hatred
"For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms." Eph. 6:12
Lets think about the Garden of Eden again. Who did Satan go after? Eve, women. Was it because she was the weaker? Perhaps. But, there is more to it.
Satan was first named Lucifer, or Son of the Morning. He was bright and beautiful and in the days of his former glory, was appointed a guardian angel. (Read Ezek. 28:12-14 for a description of him).
He was perfect in beauty, breathtaking, gorgeous, and it became his ruin! Pride entered in. He wanted to be the star, wanted the attention for himself. "Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor." Ezek. 28:17.
Satan fell because of his beauty, now his heart for revenge wants to destroy beauty. And, he hates Eve, women. She is captivating, beautiful, she bears God's image and he cannot! His jealousy burns against us!
Not only are we beauty, but we as women bring forth new life. Women nourish life by bringing life to the world soulfully, relationally, and spiritually. Satan has been a murderer from the beginning of time. His is a kingdom of death. Think of the Holocaust, ritual sacrifices, abortion, these are his ideas. So, as a life giver we bring even more of a threat!
On a Human Level
Men in general, no matter how great a hubby they are, tend to feel terror, fear, or apprehension when thinking of entering a women's world, a women's soul, truly trying to understand her. Sometimes when we talk to men we get the feeling that they are thinking, "You are too much, too hard, it's too much work, men are simpler, easier." This is just the lie Satan wants us to believe!
Part of the reason that men have a hard time entering into their woman's world is that men have a deep fear of failure. Therefore, they feel that if they enter in, they have the potential to fail us, and because of their deep love for us, this seems too scary, too risky, easier to keep their distance. Many relationships reach a barrier emotionally that has an unspoken agreement that they will go no further. This doesn't have to be this way, but it does make sense and makes me feel compassion for men. It's not that they don't care, a lot of the time it's because they care so deeply!
To every women at some point the devil has whispered, "You are alone", or "when they see who you really are, you will be alone", or "no one will ever truly come for you."
Take a moment and ask yourself if this is a message you have believed and lived in fear of? Not only do we sometimes fear that we may be left alone by our husbands, but also by our friends. It's time to reveal this pervasive threat, this crippling fear, this terrible lie!!
There is Hope
No matter what lies we have believed, no matter what evil, or hardships we've been through, there is a hope, a light that shines brighter than any other!!
I believe these are the Lords thoughts towards you, " I have created you in your mothers womb, I have seen your days and have been with you every moment of those days! I have loved you, and continue to love you with an everlasting love!! You are my creation, my lovely, my beauty, my bride! I love when you wake up and love surprising you with my beauty and watching your face light up! I love spending time with you, I will never tire of it, we will spend eternity together! Because of my great love for you, I sent my one and only son, Jesus, to die so you can be free! Free from the lies, free from the pain, free from the assaults on your soul! I bring life and if you give me your life I will fill you and bring you life and peace! Come to me my darling and let me love you like no other!!"
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Captivating Chaptor Four
Well, this chapter called, Wounded, was definitely not a fun one to go through, but very helpful and eye opening, how the wounds from our past can shape who we believe ourselves to be, and how sometimes that is so very wrong!
From our childhood we can receive wounds from our mother's and father's. From our mothers we learned what it meant to be feminine. From our mothers we learn what is means to be a women, from our fathers the value that women has. If a woman is comfortable with her own femininity, her beauty, her strength, then the chances are good that her daughter will be too.
Mothers bring us mercy and tenderness. They are a bit of a mystery to young girls, they are someone they look up to and yet know they will someday belong to the same club.
Little girls often look to their daddies looking for acceptance, wondering if they think they are lovely. Remember the twirling skirts? Above all, a little girl learns the answer to her Question from her father.
Depending on what type of childhood you had, no matter how wonderful, or not so wonderful your parents were, there are always areas that we have been wounded and still carry around with us. No parent is perfect. You can not be alive long without being wounded, it just happens. Everyone at some point will experience a broken heart.
Some women have gone through extreme pain from their childhood, but no matter how small or big your wounds are, the effects are the same. The feelings of uncertainty and worthlessness that they breed are the same.
The Messages of our Wounds Can Shape Us
The wounds we receive from our childhood bring messages with them that stick to the core of who we are, right in the place of our Question. Our wounds strike at the core of our femininity. As children we don't have the understanding to work through our wounds, so they follow us to adulthood where then surface and are either dealt with, or ignored and left to grow.
As a result of the wounds we received growing up we come to believe there is something wrong with us personally, it must be us. Through believing this, shame enters the picture and can paralyze us.
Sadly, we often get so carried away in putting ourselves down and wallowing in our shame we don't come up for air and ask of our Father how He truly sees us!
Shame can cause us to hide. Shame makes us feel uncomfortable with our beauty.
What is even more devastating than the wound though is when we see our wound and don't have the strength or care to do anything about it. There is hope and healing at the feet of Jesus!! We need to see the wound, understand where it came from, but not stay there. Sometimes a wound is deep and needs time and cultivating, removing of the old and replacing with the new, the Truth of God's Word.
Thank You Jesus that You are a God who sees our pain, who cares about our tears, who understands it all and loves us unconditionally!!!
From our childhood we can receive wounds from our mother's and father's. From our mothers we learned what it meant to be feminine. From our mothers we learn what is means to be a women, from our fathers the value that women has. If a woman is comfortable with her own femininity, her beauty, her strength, then the chances are good that her daughter will be too.
Mothers bring us mercy and tenderness. They are a bit of a mystery to young girls, they are someone they look up to and yet know they will someday belong to the same club.
Little girls often look to their daddies looking for acceptance, wondering if they think they are lovely. Remember the twirling skirts? Above all, a little girl learns the answer to her Question from her father.
Depending on what type of childhood you had, no matter how wonderful, or not so wonderful your parents were, there are always areas that we have been wounded and still carry around with us. No parent is perfect. You can not be alive long without being wounded, it just happens. Everyone at some point will experience a broken heart.
Some women have gone through extreme pain from their childhood, but no matter how small or big your wounds are, the effects are the same. The feelings of uncertainty and worthlessness that they breed are the same.
The Messages of our Wounds Can Shape Us
The wounds we receive from our childhood bring messages with them that stick to the core of who we are, right in the place of our Question. Our wounds strike at the core of our femininity. As children we don't have the understanding to work through our wounds, so they follow us to adulthood where then surface and are either dealt with, or ignored and left to grow.
As a result of the wounds we received growing up we come to believe there is something wrong with us personally, it must be us. Through believing this, shame enters the picture and can paralyze us.
Sadly, we often get so carried away in putting ourselves down and wallowing in our shame we don't come up for air and ask of our Father how He truly sees us!
Shame can cause us to hide. Shame makes us feel uncomfortable with our beauty.
What is even more devastating than the wound though is when we see our wound and don't have the strength or care to do anything about it. There is hope and healing at the feet of Jesus!! We need to see the wound, understand where it came from, but not stay there. Sometimes a wound is deep and needs time and cultivating, removing of the old and replacing with the new, the Truth of God's Word.
Thank You Jesus that You are a God who sees our pain, who cares about our tears, who understands it all and loves us unconditionally!!!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Christmas Thoughts
Luke 2:1-7
God’s own son, worthy of all glory, was not born in a palace, he was not even born in a beautiful or comfortable place. He was born in a rough place and laid in a manger, a feeding trough.
He wasn’t born to an upper class family, but to a lowly peasant girl and her carpenter husband. During that time there were three classes of people, the very rich, the middle class and the very poor. Mary’s family was in the middle.
He wasn’t born into an amazing well behaved family. He was born into a lineage full of faults. There were ex-prostitutes (Rahab), family incest (Tamar and Judah), adultery and murder (David and Bathsheba).
Through amazing simplicity and lowliness the Son of God was brought into this world.
Mary also has much to teach us. This was not a special way for her to bring forth God’s own Son. She had the honor of being God’s chosen one, but she also had to combat the ridicule and judgment she must have felt from the world the didn’t understand what was going on. Nazareth was a small town, about 400 people living there. You would have known many families and what was going on around you. Not a place where you could easily hide something like this. Young unmarried women now a days go through some ridicule when they’re expecting, but nothing like Mary must have gone through during this time.
I wonder too how she pictured bringing God’s son into the world. During this time, women would assist the midwife during childbirth. Young women would have probably seen many births and knew what to expect, but it’s still different when you go through it. Mary, carrying God’s son, but have thought about how this would happen for her. More than likely she would have pictured it very different than how it came about! She was a lone apart from God and her husband; she didn’t have the midwife and other women around her. She didn’t have a comfortable place to birth a baby. She more than likely had a bed of straw, surrounded by animals!
As a woman who’s had a baby, I can tell you this is not how I’d picture bringing a child into this world, especially not God’s Son!!
I feel there is such purpose in this simplicity and lowliness. The focus wasn’t on Jesus surrounding, His income level or family, or anything else. The focus was entirely on God’s One and Only Son, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, lying humbly in a manger! God always knows what He’s doing and there is always purpose behind His work, even if we don’t understand it! He is God, unquestionably good and right!!
Sometimes the things He may call us to do the world may not understand. We may even have some judgment and ridicule from the world, possibly even our own families. Sometimes we may feel completely alone in what He’s called us to do. But, just like He was there with Mary, He’s there with us, and that is enough! Sometimes we need reminding of this though when the journey feels so hard or lonely.
God also may at times call us to a place that is not the most comfortable of situations to live or be in. But, there is always purpose to it. The purpose is always to bring the entire focus on Jesus, to shine as His lights, to show the world His love and salvation!
This brings me to God’s will for our lives, sometimes a haunting question we struggle to find the answer to. But, I believe there is also simplicity in this to. Simplicity in understanding what His will is not only for our lives and future, but for our lives today, this day.
Matthew 22:37-40
God’s will for our lives is to love Him with all we are and to love His people.
This looks different in each of our lives, how we live this out, because we are each unique in how He made us, but the call is the same.
James 1:27, 1 John 3:23
The call He gives us is to love Him, love others, and make disciples of all nations, telling others about Him!
Luke 2:8-20
The first group of people told about Jesus birth is a group of simple, lowly shepherds. Being a shepherd was considered one of the lowliest of all trades during this time. God uses simplicity here again, bringing glory not on man, but on God! The shepherds got it though, they became passionate to tell the Good News and verse 18 says all who heard them were amazed by what were told them by the shepherds!!
I want to live a life that brings focus and glory not on me, but fully on Him, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Emmanuel, ever lasting God!! I would rather be known as simple and lowly, but one who brings God praise than any other lofty worldly goal! I want Him to be my only focus this Christmas season and every day!
God’s own son, worthy of all glory, was not born in a palace, he was not even born in a beautiful or comfortable place. He was born in a rough place and laid in a manger, a feeding trough.
He wasn’t born to an upper class family, but to a lowly peasant girl and her carpenter husband. During that time there were three classes of people, the very rich, the middle class and the very poor. Mary’s family was in the middle.
He wasn’t born into an amazing well behaved family. He was born into a lineage full of faults. There were ex-prostitutes (Rahab), family incest (Tamar and Judah), adultery and murder (David and Bathsheba).
Through amazing simplicity and lowliness the Son of God was brought into this world.
Mary also has much to teach us. This was not a special way for her to bring forth God’s own Son. She had the honor of being God’s chosen one, but she also had to combat the ridicule and judgment she must have felt from the world the didn’t understand what was going on. Nazareth was a small town, about 400 people living there. You would have known many families and what was going on around you. Not a place where you could easily hide something like this. Young unmarried women now a days go through some ridicule when they’re expecting, but nothing like Mary must have gone through during this time.
I wonder too how she pictured bringing God’s son into the world. During this time, women would assist the midwife during childbirth. Young women would have probably seen many births and knew what to expect, but it’s still different when you go through it. Mary, carrying God’s son, but have thought about how this would happen for her. More than likely she would have pictured it very different than how it came about! She was a lone apart from God and her husband; she didn’t have the midwife and other women around her. She didn’t have a comfortable place to birth a baby. She more than likely had a bed of straw, surrounded by animals!
As a woman who’s had a baby, I can tell you this is not how I’d picture bringing a child into this world, especially not God’s Son!!
I feel there is such purpose in this simplicity and lowliness. The focus wasn’t on Jesus surrounding, His income level or family, or anything else. The focus was entirely on God’s One and Only Son, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, lying humbly in a manger! God always knows what He’s doing and there is always purpose behind His work, even if we don’t understand it! He is God, unquestionably good and right!!
Sometimes the things He may call us to do the world may not understand. We may even have some judgment and ridicule from the world, possibly even our own families. Sometimes we may feel completely alone in what He’s called us to do. But, just like He was there with Mary, He’s there with us, and that is enough! Sometimes we need reminding of this though when the journey feels so hard or lonely.
God also may at times call us to a place that is not the most comfortable of situations to live or be in. But, there is always purpose to it. The purpose is always to bring the entire focus on Jesus, to shine as His lights, to show the world His love and salvation!
This brings me to God’s will for our lives, sometimes a haunting question we struggle to find the answer to. But, I believe there is also simplicity in this to. Simplicity in understanding what His will is not only for our lives and future, but for our lives today, this day.
Matthew 22:37-40
God’s will for our lives is to love Him with all we are and to love His people.
This looks different in each of our lives, how we live this out, because we are each unique in how He made us, but the call is the same.
James 1:27, 1 John 3:23
The call He gives us is to love Him, love others, and make disciples of all nations, telling others about Him!
Luke 2:8-20
The first group of people told about Jesus birth is a group of simple, lowly shepherds. Being a shepherd was considered one of the lowliest of all trades during this time. God uses simplicity here again, bringing glory not on man, but on God! The shepherds got it though, they became passionate to tell the Good News and verse 18 says all who heard them were amazed by what were told them by the shepherds!!
I want to live a life that brings focus and glory not on me, but fully on Him, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Emmanuel, ever lasting God!! I would rather be known as simple and lowly, but one who brings God praise than any other lofty worldly goal! I want Him to be my only focus this Christmas season and every day!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Eve- What Happened?
Eve was given to the world as a beautiful, life-saving lover, full of mercy and strength! She was inviting, alluring, captivating.
Do we see many women in the world like this today? Why do many of us feel the complete opposite? Why is it that even when relationships are good, there is still this bottomless pit that says it's still not enough?
Many of us are just plain tired, our lives are filled with routine, chores and deadlines. Efficiency has taken the place of adventure for a lot of us.
A Woman's Deepest Question
Most women doubt that they have any genuine beauty to unveil. We tend to either strive for beauty or feel we should simply resign. New diets, hair color, outfits, work outs, something new to work on in our life, new discipline. These are not all bad things to strive for, but when that becomes our driving passion to feel beauty and it fails, we feel we ourselves have failed and feel we might as well resign.
We as women are usually the hardest on ourselves, we judge ourselves every time we pass by a mirror. We are more aware of our shortcomings than anyone else.
Every little girl, and every little boy is asking the same question, but in different ways, we all want to know if we have what it takes? Little girls want to know, am I lovely? It's why we twirl in our skirts for our daddies, play dress-up, anything to capture attention.
Why is this question still sought after so much?
The Fall of Eve
In the beginning man and women were both innocent (Gen. 2:25). But, something dreadful happened that we are reaping the results of every day of our lives. Thankfully we can also learn the chances given to us every day to reverse what happened!
You see Eve's stumbling block was that she was so easily convinced that God was holding out on her. Convinced that she couldn't trust His heart toward her. Convinced that in order to have the best possible life, she must take matters into her own hands. How often I fall prey to this same lie.
The Curse
Gen. 3:16-18. You need to look closely into the curses here to fully gain understanding of our life's struggles today. You see Adams curse wasn't simply dealing with thorns and thistles, but more describing the daily grind men go through. Fear of not measuring up enough, fear of failing, not being able to provide. Failure is a man's worst fear.
Eve also can not be limited to simply pain in childbirth, that would let all the single ladies off the hook:) No, women is cursed with loneliness, with the urge to control, and with the dominance of men.
As women we often shy away from feeling vulnerable. At times we are far from inviting, we are guarded. A lot of our energy is spent trying to hide our true selves, and control our worlds to have some sense of security.
Dominating Women
Fallen Eve controls her relationships, she refuses to be vulnerable, protecting her heart against being hurt.
Controlling women are those who don't trust anyone else to drive their cars, help in our kitchens, speak at our retreats or meetings, carry something for us.
We are often the ones who receive the promotion, plan the perfect birthday parties, Martha Stewart perfectionist types.
Yet, we have never considered that by living a controlling and domineering life, we are really refusing to trust our God!
Desolate Women
These are the types ruled by the aching within them. They are consumed with a hunger for relationship. Sadly though, we tend to hide our true selves. We are certain if others truly knew us, they wouldn't like us. Hiding women are those of us who never speak up in meetings, pass by a beautiful dress in a store window, knowing we could never pull it off. We stay busy at gatherings rather than enter the conversations, we dismiss every compliment, we relinquish decisions to others.
We tend to hide behind our make-up, our humor, angry silence or punishing withdrawals. We hide our truest selves. And so by hiding, we take matters into our own hands. We don't turn to our God with our broken and desperate hearts.
Indulging
Whether we tend to dominate and control, or withdraw and hide, or maybe a little of both, the ache remains.
So, we buy ourselves something nice, we read something, watch something, eat something, daydream, find some kind of substitute that might work for awhile to fill that ache, but nothing ever truly fills us. These are what we give our hearts away to instead of giving them to the heart of God.
We don't need to be ashamed of our hearts ache; that we need, hunger and thirst for much more. It is our unquenchable need for more that drives us to our God!!
Eve's Lingering Fear
Women's worst fear is fear of abandonment. That we will be left alone. This is a lie and we need to see it for that. We need to stop substituting our aching with things that don't last and fall more and more in love with our Creator who loves us and gave Himself for us, that we could be free!! He loves us with such a passion, and there is never any real reason for us to feel alone. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and He is with us always! Psalm 139.
Eve was given to the world as a beautiful, life-saving lover, full of mercy and strength! She was inviting, alluring, captivating.
Do we see many women in the world like this today? Why do many of us feel the complete opposite? Why is it that even when relationships are good, there is still this bottomless pit that says it's still not enough?
Many of us are just plain tired, our lives are filled with routine, chores and deadlines. Efficiency has taken the place of adventure for a lot of us.
A Woman's Deepest Question
Most women doubt that they have any genuine beauty to unveil. We tend to either strive for beauty or feel we should simply resign. New diets, hair color, outfits, work outs, something new to work on in our life, new discipline. These are not all bad things to strive for, but when that becomes our driving passion to feel beauty and it fails, we feel we ourselves have failed and feel we might as well resign.
We as women are usually the hardest on ourselves, we judge ourselves every time we pass by a mirror. We are more aware of our shortcomings than anyone else.
Every little girl, and every little boy is asking the same question, but in different ways, we all want to know if we have what it takes? Little girls want to know, am I lovely? It's why we twirl in our skirts for our daddies, play dress-up, anything to capture attention.
Why is this question still sought after so much?
The Fall of Eve
In the beginning man and women were both innocent (Gen. 2:25). But, something dreadful happened that we are reaping the results of every day of our lives. Thankfully we can also learn the chances given to us every day to reverse what happened!
You see Eve's stumbling block was that she was so easily convinced that God was holding out on her. Convinced that she couldn't trust His heart toward her. Convinced that in order to have the best possible life, she must take matters into her own hands. How often I fall prey to this same lie.
The Curse
Gen. 3:16-18. You need to look closely into the curses here to fully gain understanding of our life's struggles today. You see Adams curse wasn't simply dealing with thorns and thistles, but more describing the daily grind men go through. Fear of not measuring up enough, fear of failing, not being able to provide. Failure is a man's worst fear.
Eve also can not be limited to simply pain in childbirth, that would let all the single ladies off the hook:) No, women is cursed with loneliness, with the urge to control, and with the dominance of men.
As women we often shy away from feeling vulnerable. At times we are far from inviting, we are guarded. A lot of our energy is spent trying to hide our true selves, and control our worlds to have some sense of security.
Dominating Women
Fallen Eve controls her relationships, she refuses to be vulnerable, protecting her heart against being hurt.
Controlling women are those who don't trust anyone else to drive their cars, help in our kitchens, speak at our retreats or meetings, carry something for us.
We are often the ones who receive the promotion, plan the perfect birthday parties, Martha Stewart perfectionist types.
Yet, we have never considered that by living a controlling and domineering life, we are really refusing to trust our God!
Desolate Women
These are the types ruled by the aching within them. They are consumed with a hunger for relationship. Sadly though, we tend to hide our true selves. We are certain if others truly knew us, they wouldn't like us. Hiding women are those of us who never speak up in meetings, pass by a beautiful dress in a store window, knowing we could never pull it off. We stay busy at gatherings rather than enter the conversations, we dismiss every compliment, we relinquish decisions to others.
We tend to hide behind our make-up, our humor, angry silence or punishing withdrawals. We hide our truest selves. And so by hiding, we take matters into our own hands. We don't turn to our God with our broken and desperate hearts.
Indulging
Whether we tend to dominate and control, or withdraw and hide, or maybe a little of both, the ache remains.
So, we buy ourselves something nice, we read something, watch something, eat something, daydream, find some kind of substitute that might work for awhile to fill that ache, but nothing ever truly fills us. These are what we give our hearts away to instead of giving them to the heart of God.
We don't need to be ashamed of our hearts ache; that we need, hunger and thirst for much more. It is our unquenchable need for more that drives us to our God!!
Eve's Lingering Fear
Women's worst fear is fear of abandonment. That we will be left alone. This is a lie and we need to see it for that. We need to stop substituting our aching with things that don't last and fall more and more in love with our Creator who loves us and gave Himself for us, that we could be free!! He loves us with such a passion, and there is never any real reason for us to feel alone. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and He is with us always! Psalm 139.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Captivating Chapter 2
What Eve alone can tell?
We've probably all dreamed of being Cinderella at some point, but the desire of a woman’s heart and the realities of a woman’s life seem an ocean apart sometimes.
Women sometimes struggle with a sense of self worth. Am I worth more than simply a household appliance, nurse maid, exedera.
Our struggle with self worth and the emptiness we feel sometimes points us to our creator, to understanding who we are in HIm and falling more in love with Him every day!
To gain a new perspective of women, we're going back to the begining of it all.
The Crown of Creation
When thinking of creation, think of the most beautiful piece of art you’ve seen. Creation itself is a great work of art, and all works after it are echoes of the original.
Gen.1:2 It begins, the dark before the first notes in a symphony.
Gen. 1:6,9 A canvas is set for Gods’ masterpiece to begin. Now comes color.
Gen. 1:11, 14, 20, 24 The masterpiece is becoming more intimate and intricate. Flowers, trees, birds, wild animals.
The masterpiece keeps building, beauty becoming greater with each creation. What was once formless and empty is now overflowing with life, color, sound and movement in a thousand variations. Creation is coming to its climax, creation of man.
Gen 2:7 The masterpiece has come to completion yet the Master says something’s not good, not quite right. Something is missing, that something is Eve, women.
Gen 2:21-23 She is the final, astonishing work of God, women. She is the Masters finishing touch. God’s creation wouldn’t have ever been complete without women, femininity. There is purpose, meaning, importance, fulfillment we bring as women to this earth.
What Does Eve Speak to Us?
She has a crucial role to play, a destiny of her own. She too bears the image of God, as only femininity can. We as women reveal a part of God that only shines through women.
We discover God is relational to His core, He longs to share adventures with us, and He has a beauty to unveil.
Romance and Relationships
God said something was missing; it was not good for man to be alone.Think of it, Adam walks without sin and has an amazing intimate relationship with God himself, but still something was missing?! That something was femininity, talk about feeling significant!
Women are relational! When boys fight, it’s all about who can punch the hardest, when girls fight, it’s all about who hurt who’s feelings, she looked at me funny, said this thing, didn’t do this, did do this, it’s all about relationship and feelings.
Men don’t often know specifics of relationships, women do. Who’s dating who, getting married, size of a new baby born, who’s upset with who. It comes second nature to us.
We also often define ourselves according to our relationships; single, engaged, married, separated, stay-at-home mom, grandparent, widowed. This isn’t a weakness in women, but a glory. This reflects God’s heart.
God’s heart for relationship
Our deep desire for relationship and intimacy speaks to us of God’s deep desire for relationship and intimacy with us, His children. The whole story of the Bible is a love story between God and His people. He yearns for us, He cares.
Isaiah 49:14,15,18
Jer. 24:7
Matt. 23:37
Not only does God long For us, but He longs to be Loved by us! Have you seen God this way, longing to be loved by you?
We see him as strong and powerful, but not always yearning to be desired. He wants to be a priority, He gave us choice in this. As I was pondering this, I thought about how God, being God the Creator of all things, could have made us to be and act like robots, to walk around saying how much we need Him. But, instead He longs for relationship with us. It means so much more to Him when we choose Him, when we long for Him because we love Him, to say we need Him!
The first command is to love Him, Matt. 12:29,30. Women want to be sought after with the whole heart of her pursuer, and God feels this way too! When we truly begin a love affair with our creator God, it completely changes our perspective of Him and of ourselves. We are made in His image, He “gets” us completely like no one else! I know as a women, that is one of the greatest forms of love, when you feel someone "gets" you. How amazing to rest in the knowledge that our heavenly Father loves us and gets us, He always understands and is always there for us!
Women speak of the qualities of God. She is inviting, tender, vulnerable, embodies mercy, and is also fierce and fiercely devoted. We have a natural and strong protective instinct, to protect what is precious to us. God is like this too! His Word says He’s a jealous God, Ex. 20:5.
An Adventure to Share
Gen 1:26-28 The mission God gave to man to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over every living thing is given to both Adam AND Eve. She is a partner in this great adventure. All we were created on this earth to do; we were created do it together!
Yes, as women we are to respect and submit to our husbands, but in God's eyes we are equal, we are not loved less than man because we were created after him.
When God creates Eve the word He calls her is an ezer kenegdo. Gen 2:18. This phrase is hard to translate, but the attempts don’t quite cut it either. Eve’s been labeled a helper, companion, or help meet. The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the Old Testament, and these are used to describe God himself, when you need Him to come through for you desperately!
Deut. 33:26,29
Psalm 121:1,2
Psalm 20:1,2
Psalm 33:20
Psalm 115:9-11
Most of these contexts speak of life and death situations and God being your only hope. Your ezer. A better translation for ezer would be “lifesaver”. Kenegdo means alongside, or opposite to, a counterpart.
God does not call us to a safe life; think of Joseph, Abraham, Moses, Deborah, Esther, and of the friends of God in the Old Testament. Also, Mary, Lazarus, Peter, James and John, Priscilla and Aquila, any of the friends of God in the New Testament. God calls us to a life filled with risks so He can be our ezer, our lifesaver! As we prepare to move to Africa next year this has become very real to me! For over a year God was speaking to John and I about moving, but every time we would respond from our flesh, it's not safe, there's no way we could live and raise our girls there! But, when we finally said yes to God, we realized that being where He is calling us to be is the safest place we could be and that no matter where we are we are in His hands! He's a big God and can take care of us! You don’t need a lifesaver when your mission is to be a couch potato:)
Our longing as women to share life together as a great adventure comes straight from Gods’ heart. He does not want to be an option in our lives. He does not want to be an appendage, tagalong, neither do us women. God is essential, He wants us to need him, desperately. We are essential, we have an irreplaceable role to play. Women are endowed from God with a fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, a vision to make the world a better place.
Beauty to Unveil
Beauty is essential to God, beauty is the essence of God! Nature is not just functional, it is beautiful! God could have made the same things that we use for function, but be boring and all look the same. Instead, we see intricate designs on a wild flower, a weed! Our God takes pleasure in creating beauty, enjoying His beauty and watching us enjoy His beauty!
With such beauty here, imagine the beauty created for us to enjoy in heaven! Rev.4:3,6. Not only does God create beauty, He is beauty, beyond description! God wants to be seen and for us to be captivated by what we see!
God creates women, beautiful! We shouldn't follow after the beauty the world throws our way, it’s often a cheap version, but we also can’t throw beauty out the window and say it doesn’t matter. It does!
God gave Eve a beautiful form and a beautiful spirit, beauty is both.
Think of artwork depicting the women’s body, not many are done of a naked man, for one thing a man would look ridiculous lying on a bed buck naked, half-covered with a sheet. It doesn’t fit the essence of man, something seems lazy about it. His essence is strength in action, He bears the image of God, who is a warrior! On the other hand, women just don't seem to fit in a scene of brutal combat, or chopping a tree down.
Why beauty Matters
Beauty is powerful. It may be the most powerful thing on earth.
First, beauty speaks. It’s the rainbow after the storm, the beautiful baby in your arms after delivery, a quiet star filled night after a long hard day, the smile from a loved one when you’re down. It’s like coming into a beautiful place, a place of comfort and rest. All is good, all is well.
A women at rest and comfortable in her feminine beauty is a joy to be around, she is lovely. In her presence your heart stops holding its breath. This is also why a woman striving and not comfortable in who God made her to be can be restless to be around. It says that all is not well, you feel worried.
Beauty also invites. Remember a beautiful piece of music, your heart just wants to linger there and soak in the beauty of the melody. Beauty goes deeper than what we can just see.
Beauty nourishes. It is food to our souls. Women’s breasts are beautiful, and with them she nourishes her baby.
Beauty comforts. There is healing in being enraptured in beauty. It’s why we send flowers to ones in grieving.
Beauty inspires us. Think of the beautiful life of Mother Theresa and others like her, beautiful lives lived out doing beautiful things inspire us!
Beauty is transcendent. It is our most immediate experience of the eternal. Sometimes beauty is so deep it pierces us with longing, for what? For a life living with our creator in heaven for all eternity. Beauty draws us to God. One of my favorite places to spend time with God is outside surrounded by His nature, I feel drawn to Him, closer to Him.
But Why a Beauty to Unveil?
One of the deepest ways a woman bears the image of God is in her mystery. Something to be explored. God yearns to be known. Jer. 29:13. I think of the things we are still finding out about Him, the greater our technology gets, the more we can learn new things about Him! Women don’t just want to give all of themselves right away. There is a process to getting all of us, a courting, a building of trust, we enjoy being sought after.
In Closing
It is God who created and longs for romance, it is God who longs to be our ezer, it is God who reveals beauty as essential to life. We are created in His image, that’s why we crave these things too. Every women has a beauty to unveil, all her own!
What Eve alone can tell?
We've probably all dreamed of being Cinderella at some point, but the desire of a woman’s heart and the realities of a woman’s life seem an ocean apart sometimes.
Women sometimes struggle with a sense of self worth. Am I worth more than simply a household appliance, nurse maid, exedera.
Our struggle with self worth and the emptiness we feel sometimes points us to our creator, to understanding who we are in HIm and falling more in love with Him every day!
To gain a new perspective of women, we're going back to the begining of it all.
The Crown of Creation
When thinking of creation, think of the most beautiful piece of art you’ve seen. Creation itself is a great work of art, and all works after it are echoes of the original.
Gen.1:2 It begins, the dark before the first notes in a symphony.
Gen. 1:6,9 A canvas is set for Gods’ masterpiece to begin. Now comes color.
Gen. 1:11, 14, 20, 24 The masterpiece is becoming more intimate and intricate. Flowers, trees, birds, wild animals.
The masterpiece keeps building, beauty becoming greater with each creation. What was once formless and empty is now overflowing with life, color, sound and movement in a thousand variations. Creation is coming to its climax, creation of man.
Gen 2:7 The masterpiece has come to completion yet the Master says something’s not good, not quite right. Something is missing, that something is Eve, women.
Gen 2:21-23 She is the final, astonishing work of God, women. She is the Masters finishing touch. God’s creation wouldn’t have ever been complete without women, femininity. There is purpose, meaning, importance, fulfillment we bring as women to this earth.
What Does Eve Speak to Us?
She has a crucial role to play, a destiny of her own. She too bears the image of God, as only femininity can. We as women reveal a part of God that only shines through women.
We discover God is relational to His core, He longs to share adventures with us, and He has a beauty to unveil.
Romance and Relationships
God said something was missing; it was not good for man to be alone.Think of it, Adam walks without sin and has an amazing intimate relationship with God himself, but still something was missing?! That something was femininity, talk about feeling significant!
Women are relational! When boys fight, it’s all about who can punch the hardest, when girls fight, it’s all about who hurt who’s feelings, she looked at me funny, said this thing, didn’t do this, did do this, it’s all about relationship and feelings.
Men don’t often know specifics of relationships, women do. Who’s dating who, getting married, size of a new baby born, who’s upset with who. It comes second nature to us.
We also often define ourselves according to our relationships; single, engaged, married, separated, stay-at-home mom, grandparent, widowed. This isn’t a weakness in women, but a glory. This reflects God’s heart.
God’s heart for relationship
Our deep desire for relationship and intimacy speaks to us of God’s deep desire for relationship and intimacy with us, His children. The whole story of the Bible is a love story between God and His people. He yearns for us, He cares.
Isaiah 49:14,15,18
Jer. 24:7
Matt. 23:37
Not only does God long For us, but He longs to be Loved by us! Have you seen God this way, longing to be loved by you?
We see him as strong and powerful, but not always yearning to be desired. He wants to be a priority, He gave us choice in this. As I was pondering this, I thought about how God, being God the Creator of all things, could have made us to be and act like robots, to walk around saying how much we need Him. But, instead He longs for relationship with us. It means so much more to Him when we choose Him, when we long for Him because we love Him, to say we need Him!
The first command is to love Him, Matt. 12:29,30. Women want to be sought after with the whole heart of her pursuer, and God feels this way too! When we truly begin a love affair with our creator God, it completely changes our perspective of Him and of ourselves. We are made in His image, He “gets” us completely like no one else! I know as a women, that is one of the greatest forms of love, when you feel someone "gets" you. How amazing to rest in the knowledge that our heavenly Father loves us and gets us, He always understands and is always there for us!
Women speak of the qualities of God. She is inviting, tender, vulnerable, embodies mercy, and is also fierce and fiercely devoted. We have a natural and strong protective instinct, to protect what is precious to us. God is like this too! His Word says He’s a jealous God, Ex. 20:5.
An Adventure to Share
Gen 1:26-28 The mission God gave to man to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over every living thing is given to both Adam AND Eve. She is a partner in this great adventure. All we were created on this earth to do; we were created do it together!
Yes, as women we are to respect and submit to our husbands, but in God's eyes we are equal, we are not loved less than man because we were created after him.
When God creates Eve the word He calls her is an ezer kenegdo. Gen 2:18. This phrase is hard to translate, but the attempts don’t quite cut it either. Eve’s been labeled a helper, companion, or help meet. The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the Old Testament, and these are used to describe God himself, when you need Him to come through for you desperately!
Deut. 33:26,29
Psalm 121:1,2
Psalm 20:1,2
Psalm 33:20
Psalm 115:9-11
Most of these contexts speak of life and death situations and God being your only hope. Your ezer. A better translation for ezer would be “lifesaver”. Kenegdo means alongside, or opposite to, a counterpart.
God does not call us to a safe life; think of Joseph, Abraham, Moses, Deborah, Esther, and of the friends of God in the Old Testament. Also, Mary, Lazarus, Peter, James and John, Priscilla and Aquila, any of the friends of God in the New Testament. God calls us to a life filled with risks so He can be our ezer, our lifesaver! As we prepare to move to Africa next year this has become very real to me! For over a year God was speaking to John and I about moving, but every time we would respond from our flesh, it's not safe, there's no way we could live and raise our girls there! But, when we finally said yes to God, we realized that being where He is calling us to be is the safest place we could be and that no matter where we are we are in His hands! He's a big God and can take care of us! You don’t need a lifesaver when your mission is to be a couch potato:)
Our longing as women to share life together as a great adventure comes straight from Gods’ heart. He does not want to be an option in our lives. He does not want to be an appendage, tagalong, neither do us women. God is essential, He wants us to need him, desperately. We are essential, we have an irreplaceable role to play. Women are endowed from God with a fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, a vision to make the world a better place.
Beauty to Unveil
Beauty is essential to God, beauty is the essence of God! Nature is not just functional, it is beautiful! God could have made the same things that we use for function, but be boring and all look the same. Instead, we see intricate designs on a wild flower, a weed! Our God takes pleasure in creating beauty, enjoying His beauty and watching us enjoy His beauty!
With such beauty here, imagine the beauty created for us to enjoy in heaven! Rev.4:3,6. Not only does God create beauty, He is beauty, beyond description! God wants to be seen and for us to be captivated by what we see!
God creates women, beautiful! We shouldn't follow after the beauty the world throws our way, it’s often a cheap version, but we also can’t throw beauty out the window and say it doesn’t matter. It does!
God gave Eve a beautiful form and a beautiful spirit, beauty is both.
Think of artwork depicting the women’s body, not many are done of a naked man, for one thing a man would look ridiculous lying on a bed buck naked, half-covered with a sheet. It doesn’t fit the essence of man, something seems lazy about it. His essence is strength in action, He bears the image of God, who is a warrior! On the other hand, women just don't seem to fit in a scene of brutal combat, or chopping a tree down.
Why beauty Matters
Beauty is powerful. It may be the most powerful thing on earth.
First, beauty speaks. It’s the rainbow after the storm, the beautiful baby in your arms after delivery, a quiet star filled night after a long hard day, the smile from a loved one when you’re down. It’s like coming into a beautiful place, a place of comfort and rest. All is good, all is well.
A women at rest and comfortable in her feminine beauty is a joy to be around, she is lovely. In her presence your heart stops holding its breath. This is also why a woman striving and not comfortable in who God made her to be can be restless to be around. It says that all is not well, you feel worried.
Beauty also invites. Remember a beautiful piece of music, your heart just wants to linger there and soak in the beauty of the melody. Beauty goes deeper than what we can just see.
Beauty nourishes. It is food to our souls. Women’s breasts are beautiful, and with them she nourishes her baby.
Beauty comforts. There is healing in being enraptured in beauty. It’s why we send flowers to ones in grieving.
Beauty inspires us. Think of the beautiful life of Mother Theresa and others like her, beautiful lives lived out doing beautiful things inspire us!
Beauty is transcendent. It is our most immediate experience of the eternal. Sometimes beauty is so deep it pierces us with longing, for what? For a life living with our creator in heaven for all eternity. Beauty draws us to God. One of my favorite places to spend time with God is outside surrounded by His nature, I feel drawn to Him, closer to Him.
But Why a Beauty to Unveil?
One of the deepest ways a woman bears the image of God is in her mystery. Something to be explored. God yearns to be known. Jer. 29:13. I think of the things we are still finding out about Him, the greater our technology gets, the more we can learn new things about Him! Women don’t just want to give all of themselves right away. There is a process to getting all of us, a courting, a building of trust, we enjoy being sought after.
In Closing
It is God who created and longs for romance, it is God who longs to be our ezer, it is God who reveals beauty as essential to life. We are created in His image, that’s why we crave these things too. Every women has a beauty to unveil, all her own!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Captivating Chaptor 1
O.K. Ladies, here are the notes from today, what an amazing God we have, so much good stuff in this first chapter!!
A Woman's Journey
Sometimes it's hard to know when exactly you become a woman. Some days I know I feel like maybe I am one, some days I still feel much like that same little girl, pretending I'm a woman. When exactly is it that we earn the title of womanhood? Is it when we graduate high school, turn 18, when we get married, become a mother, start our period, get that first bra, first kiss? Many times through our life we may feel that after we accomplish this, get married, have children, get that degree, become a great cook, pastry chef, whatever, then we will feel we have attained womanhood. But, many times after we pass through these stages, we still feel much the same. We've received lots of different messages, but very little help in what it means to become a woman. There are many books that tell of the masculine journey, rites of passage, initiations and the like, many of them helpful. But, very little wisdom is offered on the path to becoming a woman!
We know what the Proverbs 31 woman looks like and many other expectations we woman have, either from the world, or the church. Not that the Proverbs 31 woman is a bad model, quite the contrary, but when too much emphasis is placed on doing, doing, and more doing, sometimes we don't see a strong, beautiful, confident woman, you see an exhausted woman! I think sometimes we can be overly committed to serving in our church, not that serving is bad, but being overly committed can be. When we are too busy serving that we don't take time to sit and soak in God's presence, then we are not strong woman of God, we're just tired!
Unseen, Unsought, and Uncertain
It's amazing to me and relieving to find out that I'm not the only woman with the deep nagging feeling that I'm not measuring up to the type of woman I was created to be. I feel often that I'm not enough, yet too much! I feel like I'm not pretty enough, not kind enough, not patient enough, not worthy, not disciplined enough. Yet, on the flip side, I struggle with feeling too emotional, too needy, too sensitive, too strong, too opinionated, too messy, too critical. The result of this is shame, and it haunts us. It can cut to our deepest fear, which is that we will end up being abandoned and alone. I know I struggle with this, which seems crazy to me! I have a faithful man, who I have never once felt would leave me, but yet, deep inside sometimes I struggle with feeling this way, or that something bad might happen to him, leaving me alone. Why is this?? If I don't take this to God, and let Him speak healing to my heart, it can mess up a lot of my relationships in this life.
As we struggle through our days sometimes we wonder why life seems so hard, it must be us right? We feel unseen, even by those who are closest to us. We feel unsought, that no one has the passion or the courage to pursue us, to get past our messiness to find the woman deep inside. And we feel uncertain, uncertain what it even means to be feminine, uncertain if we are or ever will be.
The Heart of a Woman
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." Guard our heart above all else, why? Because God knows that our heart is core to who we are as woman. It is the source of all our creativity, our courage and our convictions. It is the driving source of our faith, our hope, and of course, our love. Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Whatever it means to bear God's image, we do so as a woman. Female! Our feminine heart was created as a reflection of God's own heart! We can't change we are woman, and we are woman to our soul, that's how our Father created us. Listen to our hearts as woman, watch how little girls play and you'll find three longings in the heart of most every woman: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty. This is when we come alive!
To Be Romanced
Think about games most little girls play, the movies we love to watch as woman. We love the feeling of being wanted and fought for! As we grow older we tend to be embarrassed of this though, but it's there none the less. I know I feel weak in myself when I feel that desire to be wanted, fought for, rescued. But, that desire is placed there for a reason; we shouldn't be ashamed of feeling this way! I was praying for the Holy Spirit to show me what this looks like in present day to day life. He showed me it's in the small ways. For instance when I've expressed the desire to move our furniture around, John as offered to help when he gets home, but in my excitement for how the room could look, I go ahead and do it myself. Then, when he gets home, he looks somewhat disappointed that he didn't get to help me. I realize now that this is his way of coming to my rescue. So, from now on I'm going to be that princess in need of my prince coming and moving my furniture around for me:)
To be romanced is certainly not the only thing a woman wants, or what we derive our existence as woman from, but we do want it!
An Irreplaceable Role in a Great Adventure
There is something powerful and fierce in the heart of a woman, just mess with our children, our man, or our friends, and you'll see it come out! I've felt that powerful feeling rise up within me sometimes when I've felt my family was threatened, and it has surprised me at times. I wonder where that powerful feeling, so strong and overtaking even came from! A woman is a warrior to, in a uniquely feminine way. Think of Mary and Ruth, Deborah and many other Bible woman, not only are they nice, sweet and gentle, but they were passionate and powerful woman who were beautiful as warriors! We are called to be passionate woman sharing in adventure with others!
Beauty to Unveil
Psalm 45:11 says, "So the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him." The desire to be delighted in is seen easily in little girls. It's why they play dress up, paint their nails, get their ears pierced, play wedding, ball, princess. It's why they play with our shoes, clothes, jewelry, make-up.
Who ever growing up had to have the skirt that twirled the most? I know I did, the better it twirled, the better the dress! There was a time when I only wanted to wear dresses.
Verbal or not, whether wearing a shimmery dress or covered in mud, all little girls want to know, as Bethany Dillan wrote in her song;
I want to be beautiful
And make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart
And be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
I just want to be worthy of love
And Beautiful
Think also of a time when you've been to a fancy event. How long before hand do you figure out what you will wear? We may buy something, borrow something, or pull something new together, but there is definitely planning and thought involved. Especially on your wedding day, you don't just pull any old thing from your closet and decide to wear that. There is a searching and dreaming of just the right gown that will make us look and feel as beautiful as possible! Think also of this fancy event, the men may also have dressed nice for it, but we all know it's all about the ladies:)! We all love to look at and compliment each others beauty!
The desire to be beautiful is also an ageless longing. From the time we're little girls twirling in our skirts, to when we're 80 rocking in our chair, we all want to be noticed, to feel beauty.
The desire to be beautiful has cost many of us countless pain. Broken hearts, tears shed, frustration over diet and other pains. I used to think that acne was just a teenage struggle, only to find it followed me into adult hood, what a disappointment!
It's not really even just the desire to look and feel beauty, but more a desire to be captivating in the depths of who we are! To be noticed not just for a beautiful outside, but to be noticed for a beautiful, pure, captivating person that we are inside! We want beauty that can be seen, felt, a beauty that affects others, and a beauty all our own to unveil.
The Heart of a Man
There are three core desires in most men's hearts. A battle to fight, just think of boys and their weapons, strangely it's how they show their affection. Most women want to be fought for.
Men long for an adventure, just think of boys and their climbing, jumping, hunting, anything that seems dangerous is an adventure. We want to be part of an adventure.
Men long for a beauty to rescue. He doesn't just want to fight in a battle, he wants someone to fight for. Think of the countless men who have pictures of their sweethearts somewhere visible when they are at war. Our men want to fight for us!
The desires of a mans heart and a women's were meant to fit perfectly together! How amazing would this look and feel if we found how to live this out in the perfect way it was created!
A Woman's Journey
Sometimes it's hard to know when exactly you become a woman. Some days I know I feel like maybe I am one, some days I still feel much like that same little girl, pretending I'm a woman. When exactly is it that we earn the title of womanhood? Is it when we graduate high school, turn 18, when we get married, become a mother, start our period, get that first bra, first kiss? Many times through our life we may feel that after we accomplish this, get married, have children, get that degree, become a great cook, pastry chef, whatever, then we will feel we have attained womanhood. But, many times after we pass through these stages, we still feel much the same. We've received lots of different messages, but very little help in what it means to become a woman. There are many books that tell of the masculine journey, rites of passage, initiations and the like, many of them helpful. But, very little wisdom is offered on the path to becoming a woman!
We know what the Proverbs 31 woman looks like and many other expectations we woman have, either from the world, or the church. Not that the Proverbs 31 woman is a bad model, quite the contrary, but when too much emphasis is placed on doing, doing, and more doing, sometimes we don't see a strong, beautiful, confident woman, you see an exhausted woman! I think sometimes we can be overly committed to serving in our church, not that serving is bad, but being overly committed can be. When we are too busy serving that we don't take time to sit and soak in God's presence, then we are not strong woman of God, we're just tired!
Unseen, Unsought, and Uncertain
It's amazing to me and relieving to find out that I'm not the only woman with the deep nagging feeling that I'm not measuring up to the type of woman I was created to be. I feel often that I'm not enough, yet too much! I feel like I'm not pretty enough, not kind enough, not patient enough, not worthy, not disciplined enough. Yet, on the flip side, I struggle with feeling too emotional, too needy, too sensitive, too strong, too opinionated, too messy, too critical. The result of this is shame, and it haunts us. It can cut to our deepest fear, which is that we will end up being abandoned and alone. I know I struggle with this, which seems crazy to me! I have a faithful man, who I have never once felt would leave me, but yet, deep inside sometimes I struggle with feeling this way, or that something bad might happen to him, leaving me alone. Why is this?? If I don't take this to God, and let Him speak healing to my heart, it can mess up a lot of my relationships in this life.
As we struggle through our days sometimes we wonder why life seems so hard, it must be us right? We feel unseen, even by those who are closest to us. We feel unsought, that no one has the passion or the courage to pursue us, to get past our messiness to find the woman deep inside. And we feel uncertain, uncertain what it even means to be feminine, uncertain if we are or ever will be.
The Heart of a Woman
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." Guard our heart above all else, why? Because God knows that our heart is core to who we are as woman. It is the source of all our creativity, our courage and our convictions. It is the driving source of our faith, our hope, and of course, our love. Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Whatever it means to bear God's image, we do so as a woman. Female! Our feminine heart was created as a reflection of God's own heart! We can't change we are woman, and we are woman to our soul, that's how our Father created us. Listen to our hearts as woman, watch how little girls play and you'll find three longings in the heart of most every woman: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty. This is when we come alive!
To Be Romanced
Think about games most little girls play, the movies we love to watch as woman. We love the feeling of being wanted and fought for! As we grow older we tend to be embarrassed of this though, but it's there none the less. I know I feel weak in myself when I feel that desire to be wanted, fought for, rescued. But, that desire is placed there for a reason; we shouldn't be ashamed of feeling this way! I was praying for the Holy Spirit to show me what this looks like in present day to day life. He showed me it's in the small ways. For instance when I've expressed the desire to move our furniture around, John as offered to help when he gets home, but in my excitement for how the room could look, I go ahead and do it myself. Then, when he gets home, he looks somewhat disappointed that he didn't get to help me. I realize now that this is his way of coming to my rescue. So, from now on I'm going to be that princess in need of my prince coming and moving my furniture around for me:)
To be romanced is certainly not the only thing a woman wants, or what we derive our existence as woman from, but we do want it!
An Irreplaceable Role in a Great Adventure
There is something powerful and fierce in the heart of a woman, just mess with our children, our man, or our friends, and you'll see it come out! I've felt that powerful feeling rise up within me sometimes when I've felt my family was threatened, and it has surprised me at times. I wonder where that powerful feeling, so strong and overtaking even came from! A woman is a warrior to, in a uniquely feminine way. Think of Mary and Ruth, Deborah and many other Bible woman, not only are they nice, sweet and gentle, but they were passionate and powerful woman who were beautiful as warriors! We are called to be passionate woman sharing in adventure with others!
Beauty to Unveil
Psalm 45:11 says, "So the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him." The desire to be delighted in is seen easily in little girls. It's why they play dress up, paint their nails, get their ears pierced, play wedding, ball, princess. It's why they play with our shoes, clothes, jewelry, make-up.
Who ever growing up had to have the skirt that twirled the most? I know I did, the better it twirled, the better the dress! There was a time when I only wanted to wear dresses.
Verbal or not, whether wearing a shimmery dress or covered in mud, all little girls want to know, as Bethany Dillan wrote in her song;
I want to be beautiful
And make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart
And be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
I just want to be worthy of love
And Beautiful
Think also of a time when you've been to a fancy event. How long before hand do you figure out what you will wear? We may buy something, borrow something, or pull something new together, but there is definitely planning and thought involved. Especially on your wedding day, you don't just pull any old thing from your closet and decide to wear that. There is a searching and dreaming of just the right gown that will make us look and feel as beautiful as possible! Think also of this fancy event, the men may also have dressed nice for it, but we all know it's all about the ladies:)! We all love to look at and compliment each others beauty!
The desire to be beautiful is also an ageless longing. From the time we're little girls twirling in our skirts, to when we're 80 rocking in our chair, we all want to be noticed, to feel beauty.
The desire to be beautiful has cost many of us countless pain. Broken hearts, tears shed, frustration over diet and other pains. I used to think that acne was just a teenage struggle, only to find it followed me into adult hood, what a disappointment!
It's not really even just the desire to look and feel beauty, but more a desire to be captivating in the depths of who we are! To be noticed not just for a beautiful outside, but to be noticed for a beautiful, pure, captivating person that we are inside! We want beauty that can be seen, felt, a beauty that affects others, and a beauty all our own to unveil.
The Heart of a Man
There are three core desires in most men's hearts. A battle to fight, just think of boys and their weapons, strangely it's how they show their affection. Most women want to be fought for.
Men long for an adventure, just think of boys and their climbing, jumping, hunting, anything that seems dangerous is an adventure. We want to be part of an adventure.
Men long for a beauty to rescue. He doesn't just want to fight in a battle, he wants someone to fight for. Think of the countless men who have pictures of their sweethearts somewhere visible when they are at war. Our men want to fight for us!
The desires of a mans heart and a women's were meant to fit perfectly together! How amazing would this look and feel if we found how to live this out in the perfect way it was created!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Ladies Bible Study
Wow! What an amazing first meeting we had this morning, God is so good!! I introduced the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge, that we will be studying together. It is totally optional to buy the book. I know as mommies it is hard sometimes to find even a little quiet time with our Lord, so I don't want you to worry about a heavy study and homework. I will be discussing each chapter and using the study guide for group discussion, you are welcome to read a long with me if you want.
Here are the notes from today:
Captivating is a book about discovering the mystery of the woman's heart, a heart meant for good, and a source of joy. Many times in life though, our heart becomes a source of shame. We feel that we are not good enough, we feel like we're not enough, yet we're too much. I know I struggle with this, and it's encouraging to realize I'm not alone! Too often the heart of women has been missed, we've missed the richness of femininity that it was meant to bring, we've missed the way it speaks to us of the heart of God. In Genesis 1:27 it says "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." God put different characteristics of Himself in both male and female! God speaks through woman something different than He speaks through man. If we miss the heart of women, we miss what God wants to speak through us.
This isn't a book about all the things we're failing to do as a woman. We're usually hard enough on ourselves, we don't need a book to help us feel worse:). There are so many different types of woman, doctors, teachers, woman who jump from planes, mommies, motorcycle woman, ballet dancers, the list goes on and on. We are each beautiful exactly how God made us!!
This book also isn't about stereotyping women. There is an essence (something that exists), that God has given to us, deep in our hearts, that we all share as women, no matter what type of women we are. When I read that, it just made me feel so special, that God puts something special inside us woman!
This book IS about discovering your priceless feminine heart. As I was preparing for this study, I thought about how our culture many times wants to put us in a box, either we are tough a tom-boy type, or really girly and frilly. I feel like I'm somewhere in between and sometimes it's hard to figure out where you fall in. God has set in each of us a femininity that is powerful AND tender, fierce AND alluring. One of the ladies pointed out that a good example of this is childbirth. Those who have been through childbirth know how fierce and strong you have to be and also how powerful you feel as you push new life into this world!! At the same time, once that little one has come out and rests in our arms, there comes over us such an intense sense of nurturing, such a tenderness for this new little life. But, someone try to hurt this new little life and watch out, the fierce woman raises up again:)
Sometimes the woman heart has been misunderstood, mistreated, abused, sometimes by ourselves, sometimes by others, but our heart that God gave us as woman is still there, and He says we are captivating!!!
We can trust our Father God with our hearts, no matter what condition they are in. He is our security as the beautiful, feminine woman He created us to be, we are secure in Him!!
Such special and powerful words, just in the introduction!! Next meeting we will be discussing Chapter 1, The Heart of a Woman. I hope you can join us as we discover the heart God has placed in us, more of His essence in us!!
God bless you!!
Kara also did an amazing job teaching the children about God's animal the squirrel. I was impressed with her ability to do this, her preparation she put into is, as well as the respect she received from the others, they all seemed to have a wonderful time together! It was a blessing to us mommies to watch them!!
Here are the notes from today:
Captivating is a book about discovering the mystery of the woman's heart, a heart meant for good, and a source of joy. Many times in life though, our heart becomes a source of shame. We feel that we are not good enough, we feel like we're not enough, yet we're too much. I know I struggle with this, and it's encouraging to realize I'm not alone! Too often the heart of women has been missed, we've missed the richness of femininity that it was meant to bring, we've missed the way it speaks to us of the heart of God. In Genesis 1:27 it says "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." God put different characteristics of Himself in both male and female! God speaks through woman something different than He speaks through man. If we miss the heart of women, we miss what God wants to speak through us.
This isn't a book about all the things we're failing to do as a woman. We're usually hard enough on ourselves, we don't need a book to help us feel worse:). There are so many different types of woman, doctors, teachers, woman who jump from planes, mommies, motorcycle woman, ballet dancers, the list goes on and on. We are each beautiful exactly how God made us!!
This book also isn't about stereotyping women. There is an essence (something that exists), that God has given to us, deep in our hearts, that we all share as women, no matter what type of women we are. When I read that, it just made me feel so special, that God puts something special inside us woman!
This book IS about discovering your priceless feminine heart. As I was preparing for this study, I thought about how our culture many times wants to put us in a box, either we are tough a tom-boy type, or really girly and frilly. I feel like I'm somewhere in between and sometimes it's hard to figure out where you fall in. God has set in each of us a femininity that is powerful AND tender, fierce AND alluring. One of the ladies pointed out that a good example of this is childbirth. Those who have been through childbirth know how fierce and strong you have to be and also how powerful you feel as you push new life into this world!! At the same time, once that little one has come out and rests in our arms, there comes over us such an intense sense of nurturing, such a tenderness for this new little life. But, someone try to hurt this new little life and watch out, the fierce woman raises up again:)
Sometimes the woman heart has been misunderstood, mistreated, abused, sometimes by ourselves, sometimes by others, but our heart that God gave us as woman is still there, and He says we are captivating!!!
We can trust our Father God with our hearts, no matter what condition they are in. He is our security as the beautiful, feminine woman He created us to be, we are secure in Him!!
Such special and powerful words, just in the introduction!! Next meeting we will be discussing Chapter 1, The Heart of a Woman. I hope you can join us as we discover the heart God has placed in us, more of His essence in us!!
God bless you!!
Kara also did an amazing job teaching the children about God's animal the squirrel. I was impressed with her ability to do this, her preparation she put into is, as well as the respect she received from the others, they all seemed to have a wonderful time together! It was a blessing to us mommies to watch them!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)