Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Waiting on Deliverance

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So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage. Exodus 6:9
Moses cried out to God and God answered him. God declared, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh…” God then reminds Moses who it is that he is speaking to as He says, “I am the LORD;”
God expounds to Moses that when He appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He appeared as God Almighty, El Shaddia, but to Moses He has appeared as LORD. As far as we know Moses is the first Israelite to know this memorial name of God.
God is giving Moses a pep talk. God is building the confidence of Moses. In other words, God is saying ‘Moses, you can do this! You know Me now as no other in the flesh does. I have allowed you and you alone this privilege. You will have victory!’
In the first eight verses of Exodus chapter six, God tells Moses four times “I am the LORD”, at least nine times God tells Moses “I will”, and twice God speaks of the Abrahamic Covenant.
I can just see God taking Moses by the shoulders and looking him deep in the eyes baring directly into his heart and soul and speaking these words as a coach would his boxer in the corner awaiting the second round.
Moses is pumped and he returns to his brethren to share God’s words of deliverance with them, but they would not hear. The Scripture tells us that they would not listen because their “despondency and cruel bondage.”
The word despondency is qotser in Hebrew and it means shortness of spirit or impatience. God sent word by Moses that He would redeem them with an outstretched arm and with great judgments (Exodus 6:6). Israel did not want to wait for “great judgments” they wanted their freedom now.
Sometimes we have to wait for our deliverance.
In Acts 1:6-7, after the resurrection of Christ, we read “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;'”
Then also in Revelation 6:9-10, we read “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
Waiting is not easy for us, but with God waiting is required. Waiting is a lesson in trust. It is a lesson in faith. It is a lesson in endurance. The Israelites were in despondency, but they were also under cruel bondage. I believe it was because of this cruel bondage that God looked over their impatience.
God never condemns the children of Israel for their lack of faith while they are slaves in Egypt. He looks over it as though it was never said. He doesn’t even address it with Moses when Moses brings it up to Him. God just reiterates what it is that Moses has been called to do and sends him to do it.
Our God knows the depravity of our situation. He is a compassionate God and just in all His ways. God sees the weight of our chains. He knows we are blind, deaf, and naked. He knows we are poor, wretched, and despised. He knows we are bitter, confused, and fickle. Yet He comes to us anyway, with “outstretched arms and great judgments”.
Oh precious one, do you see the foreshadowing of the cross in this word from God to Moses. Yes, He is speaking of deliverance from the Egyptians, but also He is pointing to the greater redemption. Our redemption from slavery to sin and the prince of this world who holds our chains. Great judgments fell on the shoulders of our Savior as He, with outstretched arms, hung on that cross. Yet, it was by these outstretched arms and through these great judgments that our freedom was found.
My friend, I would almost bet that you too once would not hear the Word of your God, because of your despondency and cruel bondage. Possibly you did not even believe that God was there because you had not been immediately delivered out of your bondage. Perhaps you are struggling with listening as you read this now.
Maybe you are one who, like Moses, have friends and family who will not hear. Believe me, I understand, but more importantly God understands. Trust Him. Keep doing what you know you are to be doing, and trust Him. He will deliver those who cry out to Him. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19)
Oh Father,
I love You. Waiting is not easy. Afflictions and struggles are not fun, but they come with the territory of a fallen world. Yet, I can still rejoice because I am no longer a slave. There was a time when my cruel bondage kept me from hearing Your words of deliverance, but You were so patient with me. Even now I can catch myself in despondency. I find myself impatient with You, expecting You to deliver me immediately, but as I grow in faith and in my walk with You, I learn that I have much to learn. Mostly I learn that I need to be as patient with others as You have been with me.   
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen.

Names of God Series, Uncategorized

Names of God: Jehovah-mekoddishkem

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It’s time for another post in the Names of God series. We have done a little study on the names Elohim, El Elyon, El Roi, El Shaddai, El Olam, Adonia, Jehovah, Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-rapha, and Jehovah-nissi.

Today we will discover what we can learn about the character of our God as we look at His name, Jehovah-mekoddishkem.

We are introduced to this beautiful name of God in the book of Exodus.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”
When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
~ Exodus 31:12-18

Jehovah-mekoddishkem is God’s name for Himself that means the LORD who sanctifies you. So what exactly does that mean to us. When we look at the context of this passage of Scripture in which God reveals this name we discover that this is the time when Moses is on the mountain top alone with God. This is when God is giving the children of Israel the Law, the Ten Commandments.

The children of Israel have spent the last four hundred years as slaves in Egypt living under the bondage of slavery and under the rules of a godless Pharaoh. Now they have been redeemed by their God. Now they are free, but they are not free to live to themselves. They have been set free to serve the I AM.

Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Go to Pharaoh and say to him,
‘Thus says the LORD,
“Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
Exodus 8:1

The children of Israel were no longer to look, talk, or act like slaves of Egypt. They were redeemed to be set apart. That is what sanctified means. They were being set apart and prepared and dedicated to represent and serve the One True Living God. They were going to be consecrated and taught by God how to be holy, and majestic, and to be a people of honor. They were no longer to be slaves, they were now sons. They were to be sons whose greatest desire was to honor their Father.

Does this sound familiar child of God through Christ Jesus His Son?

But you are A CHOSEN RACE,
A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION,
A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION,
so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him
who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 
for you once were NOT A PEOPLE,
but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD;
you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY,
but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
1 Peter 2:9-10

The children of Israel did not do a thing to earn their sanctification. They were slaves who had nothing. They did not buy their freedom. They could not purchase their own redemption. If you read the preceding chapters of the book of Exodus you also see that the children of Israel grumbled and complained the whole way into their freedom and even still as they were walking in it. So they did not even become good out of the appreciation of their new freedom. They did nothing to sanctify themselves. They had no ability within themselves to make themselves holy. God had to do it all. Thus He is Jehovah-mekkodishkem, the LORD who sanctifies you.

I didn’t earn my sanctification either. I didn’t earn my salvation. I was a slave to sin in bondage to my flesh and Satan held the cords of control. I was bankrupt and broken. I could not set myself free. I could not pay my way out. I had to be redeemed. It would be my Jehovah-mekkodishkem that came to my rescue.

By this will we have been sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all.
Hebrews 10:10

I was not sanctified by my ability to keep the Law. I was not sanctified by my ability to be good enough. The children of Israel were not sanctified by their ability to keep God’s Law either. Go back and look at the context.

The LORD who sanctifies you reveals this name of Himself as He teaches us of the sabbath.

‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths;
for this is a sign between Me and you
throughout your generations,
that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 
Therefore you are to observe the sabbath,
for it is holy to you.
Exodus 31:13-14

Now why did God say that observing the sabbath would be the sign?

Why not, you shall not commit adultery and this is the sign that you are sanctified? Why not, you shall obey your parents and this will be the sign that you are sanctified? Why not, you shall never take my name in vain and this will be sign? Why not you shall not make an idol and this will be sign?

Why on earth would the sign be the sabbath?

Oh precious one, God is trying to get a very huge point across to us today just as He was to the children of Israel then. That point being that He alone can sanctify.

The sign that we belong to Him is our ability to rest in Him.

To trust in Him.

To depend on Him.

To believe in Him.

Our sanctification does not come as a result of our work… it is a gift received only by the grace and mercy of God.

For by grace you have been saved
through faith;
and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God; 
not as a result of works,
so that no one may boast. 
Ephesians 2:8-9

Oh how thankful I am that God did not make the sign of my sanctification my ability to keep to perfection the rest of the Law. I fail often. I fall often. I miss the mark. But when I do I know that I am His because His Spirit calls me to repentance and to rest in His forgiveness and calls me to remember to trust and to love and not to fear and to start over because I have received mercy.

This is what makes my God, Jehovah-mekkodishkem, different from all other gods, His mercy for no reason other than that He loves me. Then out of my overwhelmed relief of His poured-out-without-measure grace, I willingly desire and choose to honor my Father by obeying the rest of His commands. So that through my obedience, my set apart life might display His majesty and be used by Him as a testimony to His glorious gospel to bring the rest of our Kingdom family home.

My freedom did not come through my ability to work, it did not come from ability to get it all right. My freedom game from resting in Him.

Precious one are you tired?

Are you tired from working to get it right?

Are you ready to rest in Him?

In Him alone will you find freedom.

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Rescue Is Coming

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Then Moses returned to the LORD and said,
‘O Lord, why have You brought harm
to this people?
Why did You ever send me?
Exodus 5:22
Have you ever finally gotten the nerve to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit and share the freedom and joy of knowing Christ with someone and then watch their lives get worse? Have you ever prayed with someone who prayed to receive salvation in Christ and then the moment their life didn’t turn into a bed of roses they denounced Christ and walked away from Hm? Have you ever turned to God and said these words that Moses poured out to his LORD?
Moses went to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh and said what God had told him to say.
To Israel: God had promised that He would set them free and they bowed low and worshiped Him.
To Pharaoh: God had asked him to let Israel go free to come and worship Him.
I suppose Israel assumed that Pharaoh would readily set them free, but this was not the case. Pharaoh turned up the heat. He made their work harder for them. This response of Pharaoh takes me to the book of Job.
In Job 1 we read of an encounter between God and Satan. God points Job out to Satan and tells him how Job is a servant of God, blameless and upright in his ways. Then Satan responds with “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?…But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” (Job 1:9-11)
Oh precious one, do you see the spirit of Satan working in and through Pharaoh? Satan knows our human nature. He knows how easy it is for man to worship something when it seems like he is gaining an advantage for doing so.
Once again this goes all the way back to the garden when Eve thought her advantage in life would come through her own wisdom and knowledge and through the pleasure of her flesh and not though submission to her Creator.
God has pointed Israel out to Satan through Moses and said they are My people, My servants and they will worship Me. Satan responds through Pharaoh and says, well, we’ll see about that! When the work load increases on Israel, Satan gets the response he expected and very much wanted. The people turn their backs on Moses and on God.
When Job’s persecution began he did not turn his back on God. He ran to God. Job “fell to the ground and worshiped.” (Job 1:20) It is written that through all Job went through he “did not sin nor did he blame God.” (Job 1:22) Job declared “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) My friend we must love and obey our God not because He makes us feel good, not because He gives us what we want, but simply because He is God.
Jesus teaches a parable about a sower in Matthew 13:18-23. In this parable He speaks of a person “who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.” (Matthew 13:20-21) We see this parable played out perfectly in the children of Israel and we have seen it played out in many ways and through and many others since, even to this very day. Perhaps it is even being played out in your very own heart.
My friend if you are experiencing persecution and affliction don’t run from God, run to Him.
He can handle your hurt. He can handle your confusion. Moses did not understand why God had allowed this persecution, so Moses came before God and asked why. Moses is crying out for immediate deliverance, but God is not going to give immediate deliverance in this situation. God is going to give a mighty and awesome and glory-filled deliverance that is going to spread the name of the people of Israel and the name of her God throughout all the world.
Oh precious one if you are suffering for the Word of God that you have received know that God has not abandoned you. Hold fast, stand firm, and worship Him for greater glory is coming!
Oh Father,
You are good even when I am in the midst of affliction. I trust You my God. I know that as Your child my life is filtered through Your holy fingers. You will not allow anything in my life that I can not get through in Your strength (1 Corinthians 10:13). With this promise in my heart and this knowledge in my mind, I will praise You no matter how great the storm. Though the waves may crash hard and though the wind may slam my world, I will stand firm on You my solid rock (Matthew 7:24-25). I will not allow the enemy to turn my heart from You. My mouth may cry out why, my soul may be in anguish, but my heart is Yours no matter the circumstance.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen 

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Charmed

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But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the LORD
that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?
I do not know the LORD,
and besides,
I will not let Israel go. 
Exodus 5:2
I read this verse of Scripture, these words of Pharaoh, and I wince. The sad thing is these words are still coming out of the mouths of “pharaohs” today. The pharaohs of Egypt believed themselves to be a god, and they were worshiped by the people as a god.
Once again we see the spirit of Satan himself. The one who said he would set himself up like the Most High God. The one who deceived Eve and still deceives today with the same lie, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…” (Genesis 3:5)
Satan convinces us that we need to be our own god. We need to run our own life and make our own decisions. We don’t need God telling us what to do or how to live. The sad thing is, he says this, while all along he holds us enslaved with the cords of sin. Oh how blind we are to our chains.
In 2010 I went to an Allman Brothers concert with my husband. As we sat there listening to the music I spent the majority of the evening watching the other concert attenders. The majority appeared to be intoxicated on alcohol and illegal drugs, their minds now fuzzy, and their emotions completely given over to be controlled and manipulated.
They possibly have no clue that their souls are open wide to the enemy. It broke my heart to see all these people lifting there hands up in a worshipful manner to this band. They had their hands up in praise, and their heads back and lifted up, drinking in the music of this band. Precious one, look. Let your eyes be opened to what is really going on.
This was the first non-christian concert I can recall ever attending sober. I too had been one intoxicated and completely clueless to the danger I had put myself in. I looked around at the crowd and I saw how I too once worshiped “pharaohs”. I too once lifted my hands and heart and mind in praise of some performer on a stage. I made my emotional connection with them. I let the lyrics of their song help to form my own identity and my view of others.
These lyrics usually encouraged my flesh and encouraged me to be my own god. These lyrics kept my eyes focused on myself and my own selfish desires. I ask you, my friend, who do you think is the originator of these songs?
If the tongue has the power of life and death in it (Proverbs 18:21). 
If God hates a perverse and evil tongue “You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue! Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin…” Psalm 52:3-5. Then don’t you think we should pay attention to what we sing as much as what we speak?
How blind I was to my chains. Now that I see, I know that there is only One who is worthy of my hands being lifted up to in praise. There is only One who sings with lyrics I should emotionally connect with and that, my friend, would be the beautiful song of the Holy Spirit bringing my heart to worship before the One True Living God.
In these songs my eyes are not focused on myself or the desires of my flesh. They are focused on my Christ, for He opened my eyes to my chains and when I called on Him, He set me free. Oh precious one, have your eyes been opened? 
Pharaoh’s eyes were not open. They were tightly shut up in his rebellion. He was soaking in his moment of being a god to his people. He would not submit to the authority of the One who would not allow him to remain in this “god” position.
God had already warned Moses that Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. God knew well the condition of Pharaoh’s heart and now God will use this hard heart that has refused Him and will continue to refuse Him to save millions. Pharaoh is about to get a better understanding of this God he claims that he does not know and whose voice he has refused to obey.
Oh Father,
How thankful I am that You set me free. How manipulated and controlled I once was. I was as someone who stared lost and amazed at a charmer working his magic with a cobra while all along the basket of captivity was being wound around my feet. I was a fool who thought I was free and being entertained but all along I was the one being charmed and deceived. Oh Father how I pray for a great awakening! Open the eyes of Your people and set them free.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,
Amen 
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>God’s Not Playing

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Now it came about
at the lodging place on the way
that the LORD met him
and sought to put him to death. 
Exodus 4:24
God has just given Moses this great commission to return to Egypt and bring out the children of Israel. God has been patient with his fear and insecurities. God has reminded him over and over that He would be with him. God has allowed Aaron to help him. Yet now we read that God seeks him to put him to death. What has happened?
Disobedience and disregard for the Word of God is what has happened. Now first of all we can not read this like a movie script. It is not like God is sneaking up behind Moses with a dagger and is about to slit his throat. That picture, my friend, does not line up with the character of our God.
Most likely God has allowed Moses to become sick and weak, and he is becoming sicker and weaker. This sickness and weakness comes from Moses’ blatant disregard to the covenant of God. This way of God has not changed.    
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner,
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But a man must examine himself,
and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks,
eats and drinks judgment to himself
if he does not judge the body rightly.
For this reason many among you are weak and sick,
and a number sleep.
But if we judged ourselves rightly,
we would not be judged.
But when we are judged,
we are disciplined by the Lord
so that we will not be condemned along with the world
1 Corinthians 11:27-32    
In Genesis 17:11 God gave Abraham circumcision as a sign of the covenant that was between God and Abraham and Abraham’s descendants. This sign was to be performed on every male at eight days old. Those not circumcised where not in the covenant.
Moses had been hidden by his mother for three months and when the daughter of Pharoah drew him out of the water she knew immediately that he was a Hebrew. How did she know? Circumcision.
Moses was well aware of the importance of this ritual. Yet he had neglected to circumcise his own son. Possibly because he had not stood his ground against his Midianite wife.
As we look through the Scripture we see time and time again how a man of God has stumbled and fallen over putting the desires of a woman over the Word of God. This, precious one, goes all the way back to the beginning and it will continue until the end of the age.
We read in Revelation 3:20 of how Jesus is rebuking the church of Thyatira because they have tolerated “the woman Jezebel” and God warns that He is going to throw those who tolerate her onto a bed of sickness.
Ladies we must be very careful to not let our emotions lead above our devotion to the Word of God. Men you must be very careful to not allow your desires to lead over your calling to be the spiritual head of your household. We must stand firm on the Word of God and live in obedience to it. Our hearts will deceive us, but the Word of God is solid and true.
We read that Zipporah, the wife of Moses, circumcises their son in haste right before the LORD puts Moses to death. Zipporah throws the foreskin of her son at the feet of Moses and she declares “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” (Exodus 4:25)
I believe Zipporah did this for two reasons. One, I believe Moses was too weak to do it. Two, I believe she was demonstrating her willingness to submit to the God of Abraham and the God of her husband.
Oh precious one, our God is serious about His covenants. He is serious about His Word. He is not playing with us. He does not care what position you hold in this world. He does not hold one person above or under another. His standard never changes and His standard is obedience to His every Word.
God is not legalistic. Legalism comes from man adding traditions and philosophies and extra rules to God’s Word. God’s commands are not too hard for us, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,” (1 John 5:3) and He will help us to walk in obedience when obedience is our desire.
Oh Father,
Thank You for Your Word. Thank You that I have this solid ground to stand on. The ways of man and the ways of religion change, but Your Word stays the same. Traditions and rituals of man can enslave me, but obedience to Your Word sets me free. Oh Father help me to constantly examine myself and judge myself, so that You do not have to. May I walk in Your ordinances and commands with a willing heart and a worthy manner. For You are worthy of my obedience.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen
Book Reviews, Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

>The Good Wife’s Guide Review

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>I was asked by Darlene Schacht to read the rough draft version of her new book The Good Wife’s Guide. I have been following her blog, Time-Warp Wife, for about six months. I love how she is trying to bring us ladies back to who God created us to be. In the past few decades I have to agree with her that we have gotten off focus as women.

You see I was once queen of the She-Woman-Man-Haters Club. To the point of writing college papers on the subjugation and degradation of women by our society. I researched and filled my head with every bit of information I could gather to fuel and justify my hate of men in general. I had decided that the only one of any count was my Daddy.

I despised the fact of the double-standard that I fully believed existed. I wrote a paper once that I was going to open a restaurant and call it Peckers. The woodpecker would be the store mascot and I would only hire male waiters and they would have to serve shirtless in tight red shorts. You see I decided that men should be just as objectified and degraded as women. Equal degradation was my plan.

My college papers on The Scarlet Letter and Maggie, A Girl of the Streets were asked to be kept by my professors to use as examples in future classrooms. Trust me, I was one fired-up, red-headed female. I was tired of the objectification of women. I was tired of not being physically strong enough to fight off an attacker. I was tired of being sexually harassed. I was tired of a woman being called a whore for the same thing that got a man called the hero of the locker room. I was tired of being a woman.

I was determined that I would never be dependant upon any man. I would never be a “kept” woman. I would do what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted. I didn’t need a man for anything. I mean nothing. I could even have a child without one if I wanted… they had test tubes for the only part of a man that was worth anything to me.

Oh me, I was tired.
I was tired, mad, and… broken.

I was so tired that I cried when I found out I was carrying a girl when I was pregnant with my Shelby. I stayed in denial the entire pregnancy. I wanted a boy. I did not want a daughter who would have to face this world that I had faced. I was scared to death that she would be hurt, abused, harassed, condemned. I was terrified.

In my terror I surrounded myself with invisible walls of protection and drowned my fears and demons in alcohol (btw-didn’t drink when I was pregnant) and “girl power”. My breaking point came in my second year of marriage.  My husband and I had been fighting and he walked out the door and he looked at me and said “Your problem is you hate men! Which means you will never really love me because I am a man!”

This hit me like a brick in the head.
This led me to really pick up my Bible for the first time in twelve years.
This truth led me back to the God-Man.

When I fell in love with the God-Man, I began to heal from my hate. I began to fall in love with my husband in a deeper and truer way. I began to learn what it really meant to be a woman. I began to learn how the fact that I was called a helper to my husband by God did not make me inferior to him or any other man.

I learned the beauty in Biblical submission and I learned the peace that comes in shifting a burden that I was never meant to carry over to the one who was designed for it. It has not always been easy nor has the journey always been fun, but it has been beneficial and profitable.

I don’t know were you are right now in your womanhood. You might still be a member of the She-Woman-Man-Haters Club or maybe you are a new bride or maybe you have been a bride for a while, but have been trying to pull the groom’s side for many years… where ever you are… you are woman. You are created in the image of God and you are of great value and worth and your place as woman in your home and in this world is of vital importance.

Discover what it means to be a woman as God created you.
Discover what it means to be a wife as God created you.
Discover what it means to be a mother as God created you.

A good place to get a start would be with Darlene’s new book, The Good Wife’s Guide.
There is much truth to glean from the book.
There are some pretty neat tips in how to work on your role as woman, wife, and mother.
No you may not be able to meet all the offered advice… all of our families have different routines and schedules… but you can take her ideas and suggestions and modify them to fit the dynamics of your family.

But precious one first and foremost… the best guide of learning how to be the woman that God designed you to be is found in His Word… back every bit of human advice you ever recieve up with His Word… if it can’t be backed up with the absolute truth of God… then throw it out. Declutter!

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Mouthpeace

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Moreover,
he shall speak for you to the people;
and he will be as a mouth for you
and you will be as God to him.
Exodus 4:16
God was angry with Moses. God’s anger burned against Moses because he doubted Him. Yet even in God’s anger He did not forsake Moses, nor did He revoke His calling on Moses. Moses would accomplish what God had purposed for him to accomplish. He would go to Egypt and he would do all that God had commanded him to do.
Moses would not do this on his own, or in his own strength. Even though God was angry about it, He met Moses where he was and gave him help. God’s anger is not like our anger. God is not controlled by emotions as we can be and God never acts unjustly. He is righteous at all times, even in His anger and wrath.
God unites Moses with Aaron, his natural brother. Aaron would be the speaker for Moses. Aaron would be his mouth, his ambassador, and God would be with them both. However, Aaron would not speak with God Himself. Moses alone was allowed to speak directly with God. In this God showed that He had set Moses above all others in Israel and Egypt. Moses became the mediator between the children of Israel and their God. God tells Moses that he would “be as God” to Aaron.
Oh precious one, do you know that this is true in your life as well. Do you have children? Do you have nieces, nephews, grandchildren, brothers, sisters? Do you know that if you are in Christ, you too have been called to be an ambassador, a mediator, an intercessor?
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God were making an appeal through us;
we beg you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God. 
2 Corinthians 5:20  
Do you understand that until someone comes to know Christ and even as they are maturing in their relationship with Christ, you are “as God” to them? A sobering thought isn’t it.
How are you representing Christ today?
Is God with your mouth?
Are you saying what He has commanded you to say?
Are you willing and able to be used by God to be a mouth that brings the way of peace (Luke 1:79)?
These are serious questions that we need to be asking ourselves. We need to frequently “examine ourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5) and make sure that we are indeed in the kingdom of heaven. We must look at our life and see if our words and actions represent the kingdom of this world or the kingdom of our God. 
Oh Father,
How I desire to represent You well. There are eyes and ears all around me. They see what I do, how I act, and they hear what I say and how I say it. Oh Father, be with my mouth. May the words of my mouth be Your words. May I always be open to You, allowing You to teach me what I am to say. May I present an accurate picture of Your character, so that when I speak as an ambassador of Christ, people will listen. May You be able to make an appeal to them through me. May I represent Your kingdom well.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen
Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries, Uncategorized

>Great, Now What!

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>I am trying to learn to see my trials through eyes that say “Okay God what are you wanting to teach me?” instead of “Great, now what!” Even when that trial is coming in and through my kids…

I am learning to always remember that I am a child to my Father in Heaven. So when my children do things or act in a way that gets all up in my crawl, I have begun to stop and ask God if I behave the same way toward Him.

I began doing this several years ago… but it seems I forget about it for a while… then when I am about ready to knock all my girls out I realize I need to stop and examine myself and my current relationship with God to see if He is trying to teach me something about my relationship to Him or someone else through my relationship with my children.

He has never failed to greatly enlighten me when I come to Him with this question. I don’t think He has ever said, “Nope, Nicole, we’re great. Your kids are just little hellions and they need their heads pinched off.” It usually is a response of opening my eyes to some things that I need to work on.

Sometimes it is to open my eyes to something between me and Him. Sometimes it’s something between me and my husband. Sometimes it’s between me and my girls. Sometimes it between me and another brother or sister in Christ. Sometimes it’s just to teach me so I will be ready because a future issue is coming and God is getting me ready to know how to respond. Sometimes it is just to help me give my children more grace as I sit before Him praying that He will extend more grace to me.

I currently have one child that has been having a whinefest that hangs around the it’s-all-about-me-festival and it seems to be becoming a perpetual statute for all days until all eternity and then another that is struggling with truth-telling and truth-doing and trusting to receive the right answer, not one gained by manipulating a situation to get their own way. 

These are all areas that God is constantly pruning in my own heart as well… and as I look at my kids and tell them what they should do, and know that they know what to do, and see them struggle to walk in that knowledge, I learn to give mercy and grace.

And not just to them but to others.
Because God gives it to me.
Now I did not say that I let it slide, that I ignored it, that I don’t deal with it… but I do it with mercy and with grace. (And I praise God that He doesn’t let foolishness slide with me either.)

It’s just that there is a big difference in having knowledge and actually walking and living out what you know to be true and right. This stupid flesh, and the pull of this world, and that old, nasty, sneaky serpent take their toll on our strength and convictions… and they love to offer us up a big ole plate of condemnation when we struggle and especially when we fail.

I have learned that the only sure thing in this life is Christ and all that stems from Him. Like the stem of grace, mercy, faith, love, hope, forgiveness, redemption… I have to keep my eyes on Him at all times… and He’s really a beautiful sight… so our eyes on Him should not be that difficult… right?

I have learned that my children will fail. They will struggle. They will desire this world. Their flesh and the desires of this flesh will be used by Satan to tempt them and to lead them to follow the world instead of Christ. But Jesus has prayed for them and we have prayed for them… so that when they fall their faith will not fail. 

So I love them. I learn how to discipline them with “discipleship” mentality instead of “you’re getting on my last nerve and I have had it up to here” mentality. I am a trainer at all times. I am learning how to do this because this is how I realize my God disciplines me.

Training me up to serve and to live an abundant life of overcoming victory in and by grace alone.
With much patience my God trains me up…

So when I hit the point that my flesh is screaming “Great, now what!”
I know now to stop.
To just stop and pause for a moment and say “Okay God, what are you wanting to teach me?”

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

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Then Moses said to the LORD,
“Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past,
nor since You have spoken to Your servant;
for I am slow of speech
and slow of tongue.” 
Exodus 4:10
Moses is making one excuse after another. He is trying his best to get out of going back to Egypt. Fear and insecurities have this grown man shaking in his bare feet. He doesn’t even have an accurate picture of himself. Moses, at this point, has no clue who he is or who God has created him to be.
In Acts 7:22 we learn that “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.” God had been preparing Moses for this moment since the day he was brought forth from his mother’s womb, but Moses is so gripped by his insecurities that he cannot see it. 
God has continued to be patient with Moses, for He “knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” (Psalm 103:14). However, I imagine that when God heard these excuses come out of Moses’ mouth He placed His hand on His brow and slowly shook His head as if to say “Come on, son. Have you been paying attention at all? Did I not just do these signs, wonders, and miracles before you? Did I not just tell you that ‘certainly I will be with you’ (Exodus 3:12)?”
God reminds Moses that He is the one who makes all mouths speak and He is the one who makes mute, deaf, seeing, or blind. God reminds Moses once again that He would be with him, that God Himself would teach him what he was to say. Yet, Moses still is paralyzed by his fear. Moses pleads with God to send someone else. At this God grows angry.
Can we blame God for getting a little upset at this point? I don’t think so. God has called Moses out and spoke to him from a burning bush. He has given Moses His memorial name. He has performed signs and wonders in front of him. He has promised more than once that He would be with him, and yet still Moses doubts. Still Moses wants to shrink back from his call. Oh precious one, are you shrinking back from God’s call on your life?
Do you know my friend that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29)? Do you know that God’s choice will stand not because of our works but simply because it is He who calls (Romans 9:11)? Do you have an accurate picture of yourself?
Are you looking through the rear view mirror, and being held back by your past? Are you looking through the worldview mirror, trying to decide who you should be and what you should do with your life according to the news headlines and latest articles? Or are you looking through the God’s view mirror?
“But we all, with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory,
just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18
My friend if you want an accurate picture of yourself, then discover who you are in and through God’s Word. You will first discover that you do not know God at all. You will then discover that you do not know Him because you are a sinner and your sins have separated you from Him. You will discover that although you are separated, God has sought you and He desires for you to be reconciled to Him. You will also discover that Jesus Christ is the only way to be reconciled to God (Romans 5:11).
You will discover that it is by faith that you die with Christ and then you are raised into a new life. A life that can take hold of every promise of God. A life that now is being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), and this image my friend, is the accurate picture of yourself.
This new life is sealed, filled, and willed by the Holy Spirit. It is clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49) and this power, His power, works mightily within you (Colossians 1:29).
Oh Father,
Help me to have an accurate picture of myself. Help me to understand who I am in You. I do not want to be one who shrinks back from Your calling on my life. I do not want to be paralyzed by my fears and insecurities. I desire to walk in obedience to Your call in confidence, clothed with power from on high with Your Holy Spirit. Oh Father, may the words of others not discourage me. Even if they mock me and doubt You, may I still stand firm and persevere. Do a mighty work in and through me, my God and my Lord.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,
Amen
Names of God Series, Uncategorized

Names of God Study: Jehovah-nissi

It’s time for another post in the Names of God series. We have done a little study on the names Elohim, El Elyon, El Roi, El Shaddai, El Olam, Adonia, Jehovah, Jehovah-jireh, and Jehovah-rapha.  Today we will look at Jehovah-nissi and discover what this name of God reveals to us about His character.

We are introduced to this name of God in the book of Exodus. I am going to post the entire passage because this event in Scripture is so very powerful and incredibly relevant for us as believers today. It holds the key to a truth that we all must know if we are going to live in the victory that is our in Christ.

Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. 
So Moses said to Joshua,
“Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek.
Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill
with the staff of God in my hand.” 
Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek;
and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 
So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed,
and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 
But Moses’ hands were heavy.
Then they took a stone and put it under him,
and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands,
one on one side and one on the other.
Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. 
So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek
and his people with the edge of the sword.
Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua,
that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 
Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner; 
and he said, “The LORD has sworn;
the LORD will have war against Amalek
from generation to generation.”
Exodus 17:8-16
Did you see the name of God?
Jehovah-nissi means the LORD is My Banner.
So what is a banner? What exactly does this name of God tell us about His character? What does it mean to have the LORD as your banner? It might help to see a picture…
Those men are raising the banner of the United States of America. When our soldiers go into battle this banner goes before them. They have this banner to remind them what they are living, loving, and fighting for. Notice also that one could not keep the banner up alone… his brothers helped him.
But Moses’ hands were heavy.
Then they took a stone and put it under him,
and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands,
one on one side and one on the other.
This banner is the banner of my earthly nation. I am a citizen of the USA while on this earth. I pledge allegiance to this flag and to this country, but this is not my eternal home. I have a citizenship in a kingdom that has supremacy over my allegiance to this United States.
For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 
who will transform the body of our humble state
into conformity with the body of His glory,
by the exertion of the power that He has
even to subject all things to Himself.
Therefore, my beloved brethren
whom I long to see, my joy and crown,
in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
Philippians 3:20-4:1
In this kingdom I am to stand firm and the banner I am to be raising is my God. I am to go into the battles of life with Jehovah-nissi before me to remind me what I am living, loving, and fighting for. I am to keep my eyes on Christ and keep Him lifted up before me.
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.
 John 12:32
Why do we need a banner?

Every kingdom on this earth has an enemy. The kingdom of God and those who are citizens of it are not excluded from this fact. So exactly who or what is the enemy?

Do not love the world nor the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes
and the boastful pride of life,
is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2:15-16
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.
Your adversary, the devil,
prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
Did you discover the enemy?
Now scroll back up and read Exodus 17:8-16 again and this time replace Amalek with flesh.
Our own flesh, the world system, and the devil himself are your enemies if you are a citizen of the kingdom of God… and they are your enemy if you are not, because they are doing all they can to keep you from crossing the border into the promised land.
So now that you have met the enemy, how do you fight?
So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed,
and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 
Israel was winning the battle as long as Moses had his staff lifted up. As long as the Lord was lifted up they had victory. As long as they were being led by God and were focused on Him they were successful in their battle… but when Moses became weary and his hands became heavy and his staff fell then the enemy prevailed. Oh precious one, it is no different with us and our enemy.
 But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh;
for these are in opposition to one another,
so that you may not do the things that you please…
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:16-17, 24
Therefore,
since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance
and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 
fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith,
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Now I don’t know about you… but my flesh is pretty tough, and the pull of the world and all it’s glitz and glam and shiny new stuff is pretty catchy to my eyes and well that Satan is pretty darn sneaky and quite persistent… so I get tired in this fight. What am I to do when I get tired? What am I to do when I see a fellow believer is getting tired?
 Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.
Isaiah 35:3
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak
and the knees that are feeble, 
and make straight paths for your feet,
so that the limb which is lame
may not be put out of joint,
but rather be healed.
Hebrews 12:12-13
God created this amazing thing called the church. Not the building… the body. He said the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against His church. It is here that we find strength, encouragement, hope, help, fellow soldiers… It is here where we find those who gather around us and help us raise that banner. We need each other. We have a real battle, against a very real enemy, and our enemies are strong but…
 You are from God, little children,
and have overcome them;
because greater is He who is in you
than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4

My friend… before a soldier goes into battle, they make sure their armor is on and they have all their weapons ready… then they are prepared to fight and they are prepared to defend and help others…

Remember to go into each day with your Jehovah-nissi!  

The writing and teachings of Nicole Love Halbrooks Vaughn