A Virtuous Woman who can Find?
Proverbs 31

So, are you like me… when you read about this woman you think – IMPOSSIBLE! I would like to take a few victory calls to really look at this woman and how we can become like her in character. Let me start right off by saying that this is a LIFELONG PURSUIT!

First, take some time with me now to look at the background to this Proverb. King Lemuel received this Proverb from his mother, in the form of mothers’ Godly wisdom. I would like to believe that this is her counsel to her son in what he is to look for in a wife. All mother’s want their sons to find the “right” woman. What we specifically know is that this is an Oracle from God. God is using a mother to teach a son – a very important role of mothers. What we don’t know is if this is a direct quote or a summary of what she taught him, but that does not really matter – what matters is what he is told.

You may read it and say… how can I apply that to me today? Well, of course it is written and packed within the culture of the time, we need to look at the virtues described and put them into today’s context. We must read it to unwrap the characteristics and conduct of the woman, rather than looking at what she is “doing”. Yes, we are describing a married woman however; unmarried women can learn what characteristics to develop now as she is preparing for marriage.

Let’s think about the word Virtuous for a moment. Today, you might describe her as a strong woman, a worthy woman or a noble woman. This woman is compared to Rubies which are the most precious of gemstones and can be more expensive than diamonds. A Ruby is harder than any stone, except for diamonds. A Virtuous Woman is a jewel – beautiful, valuable and durable. Just like diamonds, we learn here that “she is hard to find”. Ladies, that means that being Virtuous doesn’t come naturally – just like the making of precious stones it takes time, energy and work.

Ruth was one woman described as having noble character in scripture – read her story it may give you some insight into some of the characteristics we will be studying. Proverbs 12:4 tells us “a woman of noble character is her husbands crown”, wow ladies we can be a “crown”. Take some time and read about her, each verse is divided into two parts (vs. 15 has three). We will break down each verse to look at the characteristics and conduct described – as you read try to look at it from that angle and perspective.

Lynne

Christmas meditation
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Amen! And Amen!

“DADDY, WHAT DID YOU BRING ME?”

How many times have we heard – or spoken – those words? I know as a young child (and later on as a not-so-young child), I often asked that question. My dad was a salesman and especially in my early years, he was often away for two or three weeks at a time. And whenever he came home, I’d come running up to him, throw my arms around his knees (remember I was a little girl), and utter the question, “Daddy, what did you bring me?” And without fail, there was always something in his pocket, briefcase, or suitcase that he had chosen just for me. Many of those things have been lost over the years (although I still have a few of them on the desk he left me when he died), but for the most part they are long gone – broken, discarded, lost.

At this Christmas time of year, our thoughts often to gift-giving and what we will buy for a particular family member or friend. We spend time carefully thinking about the needs or likes of the recipient, trying to choose that “perfect” gift. Sometimes we are successful – sometimes we get stuck with the person who “has everything” or is “so hard to buy for.”

Not so with our Heavenly Father. He chose the “Perfect Gift” over two thousand years ago in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Because He knew our need – being saved from our damning sin and needing Jesus’ blood to bring us into fellowship with Him. He sent the Son in whom He was well-pleased to die in order to give us the gifts of peace and joy, a loving and victorious relationship with Him, and life everlasting in Heaven. There never was and never will be a greater, more perfect gift than Jesus Christ. And His gift will never become broken, discarded, lost.

And so at this blessed time of year, we can run to our Father and throw our arms out to Him, and hear Him respond to our question, “What did you bring me?” What did He bring us? His only begotten Son.

Lynn Randall

A Virtuous Woman – Fears God
Proverbs 31:30
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”

This is the foundational verse and characteristic of the woman described as “virtuous”. All of the other verses and characteristics are centered on this principle. Ladies without the “Fear of God” in our lives nothing else will fall into place. Do you want to have confidence? That is a product of having the fear of God in our lives (Prov. 14:26). When we understand what this means in our lives… we will have both the praise of “men” and the praise of God which is far greater.

So, what does it mean to Fear God? It is having a complete reverence for who He is and what HE does in our lives. When we understand who God is and then live in response to that understanding that we can become virtuous women. Scripture tells us that when we fear God, he will instruct us in the way we should live (Psalms 25:12).

Take some time to read about the many benefits of Fearing God. When we understand who he is in our lives we really obtain such wonderful blessings and benefits in our daily lives.

• Intimacy with God: “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant” Psalms 25:14 • Preservation in Trial: “Behold , the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His loving-kindness, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine” Psalms 33:18,19 • Provisions for Life: “O, fear the Lord, you his saints; for to those who fear Him, there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing” Psalms 34:9,10 • God’s Love: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving-kindness toward those who fear Him” (Psalms 103:11) • God’s compassion: “Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him” (Psalms 103:13) • Physical Health: “do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. it will be healing to your body, and refreshment to your bones” (Pro. 3:7, 8) • Wisdom and Knowledge: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Pro. 9:10) • Life and Peace: “The Fear of the Lord leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.” (Proverbs 19:23) • Prosperity: “The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life” (Proverbs 22:4)

When we live in the abundance of the work of God in our lives – we truly will be giving praise to Him in all we do. Do you really rest in his benefits? When we stop trying to be “virtuous” on our own, God makes us something wonderful. When He makes us “virtuous” we give praise and honor to Him.
Lynne

What Do You Say Love Is?

One of my all time favorite songs is by Bette Midler titled “The Rose”.
A few years ago I took my mom out to lunch and sitting in the parking lot of the restaurant I played the song for her. I’d recently checked the CD out from the local library and as I’d listened to the song with new ears, I’d thought of my Mom and the fact that she is in the winter of her life. Spring has passed and she has done so much living in her span of years as well as some dying -dying to hopes and dreams. My desire was to encourage her to dream new dreams and hope new hopes, plant new flowers and dance new dances, take a chance and plant new seeds in her garden for love -new love- to grow and flourish.
She’s had a few more birthdays since then and it’s been a blessing to watch her embrace her life and live it. It may be winter but she still has a graceful steady spring in her step…and more importantly the Son shines brightly in her soul and spirit.

My love for this beautiful woman is something my heart and life are not adequately able to express and what I say love is (in an earthly way) is Mom. A beautiful flower, like the crocus, that peeks its head above ground at the slightest hint of spring. Every year I am amazed to see this happen. The crocus shows up, having pushed through the hard, sometimes snow covered, winter ground…drawn upward by the sun. Nothing keeps it in the ground. It pops through and shows of its simple beauty, just by being itself.

Stephanie

Wait….wait….wait

God speaks to me in many ways as I’m sure He does to you. When I read His Word, He always has something to say to me. I can read some passage 10 different times and there might be 10 different messages in there for me. His Word is alive as it says in Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
I have found that God uses people to “speak” to me at different times too. Sometimes it may be encouragement, at other times direction, and yet other times to help convict me of some sin or disobedience. I have to say I’m not always listening.
God even “speaks” to me through His beautiful creation…but I have never heard God “speak” to me like He did a few weeks ago. One morning while I was reading scripture, praying and spending a little quiet time with the Lord, I heard 3 words. It was awesome! The words seemed to come from nowhere. It seemed as though I “heard” it in my head. God was trying to tell me something but I’m still seeking God on what it means for me.
What I heard was “wait…wait…wait.” I thought…hold on! What does that mean? Lord can’t you give me a little more information? I’ve never heard you before…can you elaborate just a bit…please?
There was a time when I was an extremely impatient person…trials taught me patience in so many areas of my life. I must admit that it doesn’t flow over to all areas of my life. There are times I grow impatient; some are “godly” things I’ve been praying for like the salvation of my son John. Some are not so “godly” like a remodeled kitchen. I decided to see what the Bible had to say on waiting and here are a few verses that spoke the loudest to me.

Psalm 27:4 “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Isaiah 40:31 “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Psalm 25:4-5 “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

You know it really doesn’t matter what God is asking me to “wait” on because I think He is telling me to just wait on His timing and sovereignty in…whatever. It’s in the waiting that I will find peace and strength.

I think I’ve been holding out on you Lord and need to lay a few more things at the foot of the cross. Teach me Lord and guide me in all my thoughts, ways and deeds because all my hope is in you.

Mary Ann

Humble yourself, or be humbled.

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

I remember this statement made in Beth Moore’s book, Praying God’s Word: “If we don’t presently have an issue that is actively humbling us, we veer with disturbing velocity toward arrogance and self-righteousness” (pg. 58).

As I have grown in my walk with Jesus Christ, 24+ years, He has graciously revealed pockets of my heart where humility has not had its way.
Several weeks ago, I was praying with some urgency that God would give me a humble heart. I don’t want to just put on humility; I want to be genuinely humble. I desire humility to overflow from my walk with Jesus Christ, as I live and breathe.

Within the first 7 days of beginning to pray that prayer, I had 3 different individuals ‘correct’ me. Oh, my prideful heart wanted to defend myself but soon I realized that God was answering my prayer. After all, how could He make me a humble person if He didn’t provide opportunities to practice humility?

I needed to follow-up with one of the individuals and that morning in my devotional reading, I read: “Peace cannot be found except with a lowly heart. And a lowly heart is not something that you can conjure up. Meekness of heart is a gift from God every time you experience it. The perfect time to experience a humble heart is when someone disapproves of you, or when you experience inward temptations and weakness. Learn to get used to both of these trials: They are a part of life.” (The Seeking Heart-Fenelon; pg.165).

God gives grace to the humble….

Diane

You Have Today
“If at anytime in your life you’re looking past where you are, if anytime in your life you’re kind of waiting through a season to get to the next season, I feel like we’re missing something extreme.” ~~Bebo Norman ¹ I went on a retreat this weekend with the sisters from my church and without a doubt it was the best “retreat” I’ve ever been privileged to attend.
One tiny nugget from the retreat was the handful on conversations I had with young mothers who are in a stage of life I’ve already lived through. We had some emotional moments where a small group of us “40 something” moms -whose children have left the nest- were sharing with these new moms, about how quickly time flies. We lovingly encouraged them to savor the moments of peanut butter kisses and sticky fingered hands grabbing your face to give you an eyeball-to-eyeball grin like only a two year old can. We encouraged them to endure the days of seeming drudgery, remembering that “the joy of the Lord is their strength.”
We remembered the “I can’t wait until…” days of wanting to hurry up and get through one phase to get to the next. What were we thinking? It all passed so quickly.
One of the things a mom older than me missed most was being able to cradle her children on her lap. There’s something about rocking your babies that compares to nothing else. It’s pure sweetness and delight.
Sisters, we all have today. Whatever stage or phase of life you are in right now don’t waste any time looking past where you are to get to where you think you’re going. Sure look past in terms of being excited about where you’re headed but be careful not to miss where you are.
Is there someone in your life who needs you to see them right now? Do they need somebody to affirm and encourage them today?
Maybe it’s the Lord Himself who is waiting for you to simply be still, to wait on Him, to talk to Him and then listen to all the wonderful things He wants to say to you.
We have today. Let’s taste it and savor for the glory of God. Selah Stephanie ¹ familylife.com/Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, Part 1 Broadcast Date: 09/01/06

Fear
I’ve been thinking a lot about fear lately, asking myself what I am afraid of and why on earth I am afraid of it. For example, I have been afraid of the dark for as long as I can remember. At various times over the years I have made intentional steps toward victory. The first one came because I was simply tired of being afraid of the dark; tired of running up the stairs at night so the dark (or whatever I was afraid was in it) wouldn’t get me. I remember standing and speaking to the darkness and to the enemy in it, saying, “No more! Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world.” After that I turned and walked slowly and deliberately up the stairs, choosing to fight the “feeling” of fear.
There are many other things I could list, but frankly speaking, I don’t wish to spend one more second pondering on or talking about the things that fill me with fear. I’d rather tell myself the truth, “God did not give me a spirit of fear. Rather, He gave me a spirit of power, and of love and of a sound mind. So that means, empowered by the Holy Spirit of God in me, I can take captive stinky thinking and with a sound mind tell myself the truth “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world- and because the love of Christ is in me, I will not be afraid!
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” ~~ 1John 4:18 (NKJV) ¹ “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” ~~1 John 4:4 (NKJV) ¹ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” ~~2Timothy 1:7 (NKJV) ¹ Dear sister, there is no fear in Christ. Our life in Christ removes all fear.
Stephanie

“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” ~~ Louis E. Boone ²

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” ~~Dale Carnegie ²

“It is the nature of slavery to render its victims so abject that at last, fearing to be free, they multiply their own chains. You can liberate a free man, but you cannot liberate a slave.”
~~Louis J. Hall ²

All forms of fear produce fatigue. ~~Bertrand Russell Fear is the prison of the heart. ~~ Anonymous ¹ biblegateway.com ² heatquotes.net

My Precious Legacy
After getting to know my husband’s family I became envious of the legacy that he had. His family is full of fun traditions that I had not grown up with. More important than the traditions were the people behind them. Dave was blessed to still have living grandparents when I had already lost my parents. Dave had “Little Mom” and “Pop” both until they were 90 years old. And we are blessed to still have his Mom and Dad. Dad is looking forward to 80/60 next year! Eighty years old and 60 years married he told us when we saw him last. What a blessed legacy!
I never knew my Dad’s mother and I never knew my Mom’s father. Both died before I was born. My Mom’s mother died when I was 12 so I have few memories of her and my Dad’s father died when I was 19 but I was into my life and so I really didn’t spend a lot of time with him. After both my parents had died I went to the cemetery where they are buried. I went to “talk”. There were issues I needed to resolve and unfortunately I only had headstones to talk to. I was reminded that day that my grandparents were also buried at the same cemetery. I began to walk around and after awhile I came to the family plot where my grandparents, great- aunts and uncles are buried. There was a large family stone and then a number of smaller stones in a row. I came to my Grandmother’s resting place and found that on the headstone was John 14:19b “Because I live, you also will live.” I looked in amazement at my legacy! I never knew my grandmother. Did my Grandmother request that verse? Did my Grandfather choose that verse? Did I have a legacy that I didn’t even know about? I thanked God for this knowledge that somewhere in my past was a godly heritage and that I would continue to be part of it! As I turned to go back to my car I heard that still small voice of God tell me to turn around. I took a few more steps and again felt the need to turn around. As I turned I saw the other side of the family headstone. In large capital letters it read “SAVED BY GRACE”! I hardly could believe it! There was my heritage! I had a legacy too!
I don’t want those who come behind me to have to look so hard for their legacy. I want them to know that they have a godly heritage. It will be each one’s choice to take that heritage for themselves but they will know that I chose Jesus Christ and as we pray and pour our lives into our kids and grandkids who knows how our legacy will touch their lives!
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
It is never too late to leave a legacy, one that will last for eternity!
Kathy