My desire today is to empower us as women to fight the good fight against the temptations and lies of this world (like what we have discussed the past two days). When I went to my church organization’s annual conference this past December, a woman, Beth Sebek. gave an amazing teaching that transformed my mentality about how much power I have with God EVERY DAY! One verse she shared was 1Corinthians1:17,
“For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power“.
Before this, I had never caught the last part of this verse. When we choose to rely on our own, imperfect, flawed, wisdom, we are fearing that the CROSS OF CHRIST will not have enough power to take care of us. WHAT?!?! Ladies, let us not forget, Satan tells us what we ARE NOT, but God calls us and tells us WHAT WE ARE! John8:44b states that Satan is the Father of Lies, but remember, He cannot tell you what your future is, only God knows that. Do you really believe that you are a new creation when you accept His Son like the way God tells us in His Word? 2Corinthians5:14-15 states,
“Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them”.
We no longer need to rely on our own power to fight the fight. When we place our trust in Christ, the power of the Cross transforms into our hearts and gives us a NEW MISSION: to be God’s beloved child… forever. EMBRACE THAT POWER! Ask yourself this question, are you being born again and COMPLETELY transformed every single day?
Remember the beauty in verse Psalm52:8, “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever”. God wants you to flourish with Him, through his love and power. Walk in today and be aware that we have a God who is our God of Redemption!!! This is where your roots will remain deeply planted within streams of water.
I’ll end with a wonderful quote by Donald Miller, “God is in the wind and the water… you can swim in Him or have him brush your face in a breeze”. God has a plan for you, and if you desire Him, He will lead you in the way everlasting (with FREEDOM!).
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Isn’t wonderful to know that we do not have to fight alone anymore?!?! Women we are daily under attack from our enemies, and daily we must go to battle; but, God never grows tired of our struggles, he never grows tire of fighting with us. He is a warrior who is always by our side, ready to use his shield to protect us from the fiery arrows of our enemy. He never leaves us no matter how intense the fight becomes. I live in a world of images and it is one of the ways that I communicate with God. In one of the images that I have, I am under attack from my enemy. There are fiery arrows raining down around me and they have driven me to the ground. I am wounded and unable to protect myself. But God is by my side, in full body armor, raising his shield to protect me from the fiery arrows that would kill me. I love this image because it reminds me that I am not alone in my struggles and that God considers me worthy enough to protect, fight for, and save.
God does not rejoice in our pain women but I do think that he delights in our weakness because in our weakness we realize that we need him and that is when we turn to him. So many of us when we become believers believe that all our troubles are going to melt away. Unfortunately, they usually intensify because we have lit up like a beacon for our enemy. Why does God not make our struggles easier? I think Paul summed it up best in 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10:
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
God wants us to need him and he know that the only ways for us to need him is to struggle. Also, when we have struggles it makes us a better witness for him. If there were no problems in our lives, how would we be able to relate to the unsaved? But through it all he promises to be by our side: he will never leave us nor forsake us. So lets rejoice women that our weakness brings glory to God and in our weakness we are brought closer to him!
I love this!! Amazingly strong words so much that I can relate to and such a humbling thing to think about in general! Our God never grows tired of fighting for us and that makes this battle just seem so much easier!
I heard on the radio yesterday or the day before or maybe even both days, that God never gives us pain without a purpose. Reading this tonight just made that statement really stick. I don’t want a perfect life or an easy one, my testimony is full of trials, but it is also full of God’s love and if my testimony only turns one non believer into a follower of Christ then all the pain and suffering is worth it! I think that every hardship no matter how big or how small has made me into the Christian woman that I am today.
My walk is not as strong as I would like it to be but I am making strides to get closer to my Father in heaven and everyday is a challenge.
There is a quote that I am frequently throwing up onto my Twitter account because I absolutely love it, “I’m not a Christian because I’m strong and have it all together. I’m a Christian because I’m weak and admit I need a Savior.” I just love that because it makes me feel like my weakness is a tool that God will use! He uses the weak to lead the strong. Looking forward to many more entries!!
I feel such a connection when I read this blog and every time a new comment gets posted I think of another friend that could benefit from reading this so I forward the link. Thanks ladies!