But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11
Tell them I'm coming back! These words have been ringing in my spirit since Saturday! John and I were at a workship this weekend, and an image bearing those words was shown on the screen. Those words are now imprinted in my heart: Tell them I'm coming back! Of course, they make me think of Jesus. This is the week that we observe and remember the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. This is the week that we reflect on His sacrifice for us. This is the week that we celebrate His victory over death, hell, and the grave. No doubt, Satan thought Jesus was defeated when he hung His head and died, but not so! Yeah, we celebrate the biggest comeback ever this week!
Maybe you have forgotten, however, that His comeback also guarantees your comeback! Did you hear me? Your comeback is guaranteed! Because He rose from what seemed like defeat you can too! See a comeback is defined by Merriam - Webster in this way: a return to a former position or condition (as of success or prosperity) : recovery, revival. Jesus was returned to His former position (seated with the Father with all power). He recovered all! He did it so that you could be returned to your former position with Him as well.
Life happens. We get distracted. People hurt us, and sometimes we hurt other people. We experience loss and grief, and there are times where we feel as if we are defeated, but I declare unto you today that you are coming back! You are coming back from shame! You are coming back from low self-esteem. You are coming back from feeling rejected and lonely! Your marriage is coming back to the place that God called it to be! Your husband is coming back to his rightful place as the king and priest of your home! You are coming back to the wife of great character and wisdom! You ought to declare out loud, "I'm coming back"!
As you reflect this week on the greatest comeback ever told be reminded that you are coming back as well! The things the enemy sent to defeat you are being defeated themselves! You took some hard punches. You might have even fallen down a few times, but the match is not over! There is still time on the clock, and it looks to me like you are about to come out swinging! You are coming back!
Monday, March 26, 2018
Monday, March 19, 2018
Monday's Marriage Moment - What Do You Think?
There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.
Numbers 13:33
Do you think that you can accomplish what God has put in your heart? Do you think that your marriage will prosper and succeed? Do you think that you can start a business? What you think matters.You can think your way into success or failure. You can think your way into prosperity or lack. You can think your way into winning or losing. So, what do you think?
Take the account of the 12 spies in the book of Numbers. God had already promised the children of Israel that Canaan was theirs. He promised it, so it was a done deal. All they had to do was take ownership of it. Nonetheless, Moses sent twelve spies into the land to check it out and report back what they found. They all come back and confirm that it is in fact "a land flowing with milk and honey" just like God said. It would have been great if they stopped right there, but 10 of them didn't. They went on to report that they saw giants there, and because of that they saw themselves as grasshoppers.
Did you get that last sentence? They saw themselves as grasshoppers. The giants didn't see them that way. Moses didn't see them that way. God definitely didn't see them that way. That is how they saw themselves after seeing the giants and because of that they didn't think they could do it. So, they didn't. They wandered around for 40 more years because of what they thought about themselves.
Sometimes our perspectives of ourselves change because of how we see someone else. That is the problem with comparison. It's not that anything about you changed. It's just that when you see someone else (what they have, what they can do, how they live, etc.) you begin to measure yourself. It is a subtle trick of the enemy to cause us to minimize or even discount what God has said. It gets us off track and off focus, and we have to stop.
Listen, if God has faith in you, and He does, then you need to have faith in yourself. He knows that you can accomplish everything He has put in your hands to do. You just have to believe it for yourself! The same way He promised the children of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, He has made some promises to you. Don't you let what you see cause you to doubt what He said! Don't see yourself as a grasshopper. You are a giant! Stop seeing yourself as not educated enough, not popular enough, not talented enough, and the list goes on and on. No! You are more than a conquerer. At least, that is what I think.
The question is what do you think?
Numbers 13:33
Do you think that you can accomplish what God has put in your heart? Do you think that your marriage will prosper and succeed? Do you think that you can start a business? What you think matters.You can think your way into success or failure. You can think your way into prosperity or lack. You can think your way into winning or losing. So, what do you think?
Take the account of the 12 spies in the book of Numbers. God had already promised the children of Israel that Canaan was theirs. He promised it, so it was a done deal. All they had to do was take ownership of it. Nonetheless, Moses sent twelve spies into the land to check it out and report back what they found. They all come back and confirm that it is in fact "a land flowing with milk and honey" just like God said. It would have been great if they stopped right there, but 10 of them didn't. They went on to report that they saw giants there, and because of that they saw themselves as grasshoppers.
Did you get that last sentence? They saw themselves as grasshoppers. The giants didn't see them that way. Moses didn't see them that way. God definitely didn't see them that way. That is how they saw themselves after seeing the giants and because of that they didn't think they could do it. So, they didn't. They wandered around for 40 more years because of what they thought about themselves.
Sometimes our perspectives of ourselves change because of how we see someone else. That is the problem with comparison. It's not that anything about you changed. It's just that when you see someone else (what they have, what they can do, how they live, etc.) you begin to measure yourself. It is a subtle trick of the enemy to cause us to minimize or even discount what God has said. It gets us off track and off focus, and we have to stop.
Listen, if God has faith in you, and He does, then you need to have faith in yourself. He knows that you can accomplish everything He has put in your hands to do. You just have to believe it for yourself! The same way He promised the children of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, He has made some promises to you. Don't you let what you see cause you to doubt what He said! Don't see yourself as a grasshopper. You are a giant! Stop seeing yourself as not educated enough, not popular enough, not talented enough, and the list goes on and on. No! You are more than a conquerer. At least, that is what I think.
The question is what do you think?
Monday, March 12, 2018
Monday's Marriage Moment - What's In Your Hands?
Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
Judges 4:21
Don't tell me that you are just a wife! Don't you dare minimize the power and authority that you possess! You can make a dollar out of fifteen cents. You can fix dinner, wash clothes, return calls, plan a meeting, and plan a trip all in an afternoon. You can sense when things are not right with your spouse or children. You are powerful and beautiful, and you have what it takes!
I know that you might not always feel powerful, but let me encourage you today that you are. I know you have bigger vision than where you are now, and that is wonderful, but don't minimize where you are on the way to where you are going. Don't minimize what you have in search of what you want. Take Jael in our text. I am sure that she started her day in a normal fashion. She was a wife just like we are, so there was much to do, but this day was different. This day, the captain of the enemy army, Sisera, found himself at her tent. He was fleeing from the Israelite army and thought he had found safety with this woman. He was sadly mistaken. Being a noble wife, she seized the opportunity to protect not just her family but to strike a blow for Israel as well.
She lulled Sisera into a position of rest; so much so that he went to sleep. Then she used what she had nearby - a hammer and nail - and she killed Sisera. She didn't have a master plan for victory that day. She didn't have time to strategize, form a meeting of local wives, or research the best way to defeat army captains. She had to think on her feet. So, she used what she had to accomplish what an entire army could not.
What do you have in your hand, Dear Wife? What thing(s) has God given you to defeat the enemy? Has He given you words to write in a book or blog? Has He given you the ability to make beautiful decorations out of everyday things and minister love while you do it? Has He brought you through something to use those testimonies to help others? Has He given you the gift of song? What is it that you don't have to shop for or manufacture that He wants to use for His glory?
Whatever it is use it! It doesn't take years of training and the approval of man! All that is required is God's yes and whatever He has right at your fingertips! God has given you great and precious gifts. What's in your hands?!!!
Judges 4:21
Don't tell me that you are just a wife! Don't you dare minimize the power and authority that you possess! You can make a dollar out of fifteen cents. You can fix dinner, wash clothes, return calls, plan a meeting, and plan a trip all in an afternoon. You can sense when things are not right with your spouse or children. You are powerful and beautiful, and you have what it takes!
I know that you might not always feel powerful, but let me encourage you today that you are. I know you have bigger vision than where you are now, and that is wonderful, but don't minimize where you are on the way to where you are going. Don't minimize what you have in search of what you want. Take Jael in our text. I am sure that she started her day in a normal fashion. She was a wife just like we are, so there was much to do, but this day was different. This day, the captain of the enemy army, Sisera, found himself at her tent. He was fleeing from the Israelite army and thought he had found safety with this woman. He was sadly mistaken. Being a noble wife, she seized the opportunity to protect not just her family but to strike a blow for Israel as well.
She lulled Sisera into a position of rest; so much so that he went to sleep. Then she used what she had nearby - a hammer and nail - and she killed Sisera. She didn't have a master plan for victory that day. She didn't have time to strategize, form a meeting of local wives, or research the best way to defeat army captains. She had to think on her feet. So, she used what she had to accomplish what an entire army could not.
What do you have in your hand, Dear Wife? What thing(s) has God given you to defeat the enemy? Has He given you words to write in a book or blog? Has He given you the ability to make beautiful decorations out of everyday things and minister love while you do it? Has He brought you through something to use those testimonies to help others? Has He given you the gift of song? What is it that you don't have to shop for or manufacture that He wants to use for His glory?
Whatever it is use it! It doesn't take years of training and the approval of man! All that is required is God's yes and whatever He has right at your fingertips! God has given you great and precious gifts. What's in your hands?!!!
Monday, March 5, 2018
Monday's Marriage Moment - You Can Walk on Water!
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you
on the water. Come,” he said.
Matthew 14:28-29
This week I will celebrate one year of serving as the leader
of Believing Wives! I am filled with lots of emotion, but what I feel the most
is gratitude. I am thankful that God chose me. I am thankful that He equipped
me. I am thankful that He has given me people, resources, and strength to do
it. I realize that none of this would have happened if I would not have said
yes. I didn’t have the full picture. No one called me into an office and laid
out a plan for starting a ministry. No one took me by the hand and said, “do
this”. I didn’t have the resources. I didn’t have a place to hold meetings. I
didn’t even know who would come. I stepped out in faith onto nothing. Well, nothing except God’s word to go, and that was enough. A year later
I see that it was more than enough.
You may not realize it, but when you said "I do" to your spouse you stepped out onto the water. You didn't know what your marriage would be like. You had no idea what the future would hold. You didn't have the full plan or picture, and no one sat you down and told you everything you needed to know. You just knew that this was the person God had for you to do it with. There are ups and there are downs, but every day that you get up and live out your vows you are taking a step out of the boat.
Every time that an attack comes your way and you don't quit you are walking further out onto the sea. Every time that you obey God in honoring your spouse, you are taking a step closer to your destiny! The enemy has designed the attacks to drown you and cause you to go under, but you just keep walking on the water!
I know we like plans and order. I know we want the full picture before we commit, but that is not faith. Faith is taking a step even when you don't really know where your foot may land. It's trusting God even when you are not sure that you can trust people. It's getting up another day to live out the life that you have been called to live. That's faith! And, just as a reminder, God honors your faith, and it pleases Him. Remember, He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
I encourage you today to step out with
nothing other than His word. It is enough. As you go forward in faith God will provide everything that you need. He will send the resources. He will send a word right when you need it. He will send the people to help. If you have been waiting for a word
let this be it for you! Go! Launch! Move! Build! Write! Dream! Try! You don’t
have to see the full picture. Just continue to see Him. He will bring it to
pass. He will uphold you. His word does not return void!
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