Talk With a Sister
Greetings sisters in Christ!
We are praising the Lord to have spent the weekend with some saints we have not been with in a very long time. God was glorified and I wanted to share what the sister and I were talking about as it will be encouraging for us both to remember it and hopefully edify you all.
In between, I will share some pictures of the beauty that our Father allowed us to partake of for the past two day, before we head into the darkness once again to shine the light of Christ.
We encouraged each other in so many different areas, exposing our weaknesses and sharing our victories. I'll share some of the topics with you....
* Fear. Fear of the unknown in the future whether it be our future or where the world is heading in which relates to our future. We talked about 2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. We discussed how we need to catch it immediately and run to the Lord with it before it manifests itself into something bigger than it really is. He is our strength and our power and He is always there for us if we go to Him...sadly we forget and get wrapped up in what's going on and then satan comes in and takes us lower. This leads to trust, in which we need to cast out that fear.
* Trust. It goes on the other side of fear. If we trust God, we don't fear and we know that perfect love casts out fear and how do we get that perfect love, by trusting in our Father to help us. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18 If we trust our heavenly Father for our salvation, we should trust Him every day for all things. Setting our affections on things above (Colossians 3:2) and forsaking our flesh that wants to dwell where it should not.
* Physical ailments. We shared how we are refined through them and that we should rejoice in them as our Father may be using such things to quiet us as wives and cultivate a meek and quiet spirit. He can also use ailments to bring us closer to Him in trust, which will then cast out that fear and allow us to be content in our situation. Quite often we are stumbled in our ailments because we are not content in that which the Lord has allowed us to be in. See Job, how he continued to serve the Lord in his afflictions, how much more should we with the help of the Holy Spirit. We should also not allow our afflictions to stop us from ministering to others. See what Jesus and the disciples went through and how they continued to do what the Father commanded, out of love of the saints they endured and poured themselves out in ministry. Afflictions should not stop us and make us a victim, we should overcome through them and be serving saints regardless.
* Ministry. We talked about how we should be helpers to our husbands in their ministry first and even if they don't have one yet, we should make ourselves readily available and training ourselves for that opportunity. If we have a ministry it should be one that can easily go along with our husbands ministry, for example I have this sisters blog that I do in addition to what brother Jim needs me to do for him and they both work together. As godly wives we should have our ministry priorities set right such as taking care of our role as godly women, ministry to our husbands and children and then ministry to the body of Christ and then if there is any time left there might be another ministry she could possibly do. Brother Jim is always teaching people that after we take care of ourselves in the Lord, we should be taking care of the saints we know and THEN we can minister to the world. How bad is it if we minister to the world and don't have time for the saints? We have to be very careful as women, that we are not overstepping our bounds and keep our priorities straight, not venturing into feminism in wanting our own ministry that might be outside what is right.
* Not leading husbands. We talked about various ways that we can be influencing our husbands which in essence is leading them and therefore could be hindering the work that God is doing in them. We do not want to be a Delilah who badgered Samson until he relented and then lost his power of God. We discussed how the more quiet we are and the more we pray, the more we see our husbands grow. There's much written about being quiet and not contentious as the more a wife pushes the harder a husband will push back. We must be silent, live our life for the Lord and follow our husbands, not lead them. It's a relenting of our desires and killing the flesh.
* Killing the flesh. This is the root of most marital problems and if we wives would simply focus on ourselves and serving the Lord in contentment and joy, our husbands would be free from the bondage of feminism and allowed to seek the Lord's will without distraction. We talked about how woman was made FOR man, from man and that we are to be helpers to them. Killing the flesh of Genesis 3 where woman wants to be over man but he is to rule over her. Killing the flesh in fear, in guilt, sadness and self pity in ailments. These are all things that we need to let go and allow God to fill us and overcome all things.
* The joy of being a new creation. We shared how we are so thankful when we compare who we used to be, to who we are now. How our Father heard our cries even in our disobedience, He had us on a path to come to the truth. The transformation process we went through in our repentance and how God revealed His truth to us and continues to do so because He is so merciful.
* The mercy and patience of our Father. He is so merciful in His patience when we don't 'understand' the depths of something that we should. That life circumstances can help us to see, although it's sad that it can take so long to get through the wicked heart and stiff neck of man. We shared how we are to 'hear' those who have walked before us and ponder on such things and ask God to help us see sooner rather than later if we kill our flesh and allow Him to do so.
* Leaving this world behind. The older we get the closer we see eternity and the easier it is to leave this world and those in it, to God and His will. As we strive to be obedient in all ways, doing the work we are commanded in the roles we have been given, we set our sights on the reward ahead...eternity of rest with the Father.
* Not practicing partiality. We shared how we love our earthly family and pray for them but we have left them where they are, in the hands of the Lord, and must move on because there are other children, grandchildren, mothers, sisters etc that God may need us to be ready to minister to. Our loved ones are no more important than all the rest of the world.
* Simplifying our lives. It's easy to amass things that we don't need, that become a hindrance to us. Getting by with the basics is what we should be striving for, not the latest gadget and perfect home. They are contemplating a big life change which could strip and refine them greatly and we encourage this. We have seen in our life that although we thought we were being simple, refining our life, frugal with resources, that each year the Lord reveals more that we need to do. It's a matter of letting go of the mindsets we always had, 'that's how I like things', setting our standards of what will make us content at what level of quality vs just getting by in this world.
These were the main subjects we spoke of and if I recall more I will share with you. Let us all remember why we are here...it's not to have a nice life, it's not about our comfort and pleasure...it's about our sacrifice to the Lord, edifying the saints and doing the work that we have been commanded to do. Within all that we will find that contentment and joy, through the Father, as He molds us to who He wants us to be.
We are working our way to the next destination for (Lord willing) much street preaching and witnessing, pressing on down the long empty highways of the wide open western part of the states. Seeking those that are lost and shining the light of truth into a dark world.
Have a joyous and content day, no matter what your life is, praise God for it!
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
We are praising the Lord to have spent the weekend with some saints we have not been with in a very long time. God was glorified and I wanted to share what the sister and I were talking about as it will be encouraging for us both to remember it and hopefully edify you all.
In between, I will share some pictures of the beauty that our Father allowed us to partake of for the past two day, before we head into the darkness once again to shine the light of Christ.
We encouraged each other in so many different areas, exposing our weaknesses and sharing our victories. I'll share some of the topics with you....
* Fear. Fear of the unknown in the future whether it be our future or where the world is heading in which relates to our future. We talked about 2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. We discussed how we need to catch it immediately and run to the Lord with it before it manifests itself into something bigger than it really is. He is our strength and our power and He is always there for us if we go to Him...sadly we forget and get wrapped up in what's going on and then satan comes in and takes us lower. This leads to trust, in which we need to cast out that fear.
* Trust. It goes on the other side of fear. If we trust God, we don't fear and we know that perfect love casts out fear and how do we get that perfect love, by trusting in our Father to help us. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18 If we trust our heavenly Father for our salvation, we should trust Him every day for all things. Setting our affections on things above (Colossians 3:2) and forsaking our flesh that wants to dwell where it should not.
* Physical ailments. We shared how we are refined through them and that we should rejoice in them as our Father may be using such things to quiet us as wives and cultivate a meek and quiet spirit. He can also use ailments to bring us closer to Him in trust, which will then cast out that fear and allow us to be content in our situation. Quite often we are stumbled in our ailments because we are not content in that which the Lord has allowed us to be in. See Job, how he continued to serve the Lord in his afflictions, how much more should we with the help of the Holy Spirit. We should also not allow our afflictions to stop us from ministering to others. See what Jesus and the disciples went through and how they continued to do what the Father commanded, out of love of the saints they endured and poured themselves out in ministry. Afflictions should not stop us and make us a victim, we should overcome through them and be serving saints regardless.
* Ministry. We talked about how we should be helpers to our husbands in their ministry first and even if they don't have one yet, we should make ourselves readily available and training ourselves for that opportunity. If we have a ministry it should be one that can easily go along with our husbands ministry, for example I have this sisters blog that I do in addition to what brother Jim needs me to do for him and they both work together. As godly wives we should have our ministry priorities set right such as taking care of our role as godly women, ministry to our husbands and children and then ministry to the body of Christ and then if there is any time left there might be another ministry she could possibly do. Brother Jim is always teaching people that after we take care of ourselves in the Lord, we should be taking care of the saints we know and THEN we can minister to the world. How bad is it if we minister to the world and don't have time for the saints? We have to be very careful as women, that we are not overstepping our bounds and keep our priorities straight, not venturing into feminism in wanting our own ministry that might be outside what is right.
* Not leading husbands. We talked about various ways that we can be influencing our husbands which in essence is leading them and therefore could be hindering the work that God is doing in them. We do not want to be a Delilah who badgered Samson until he relented and then lost his power of God. We discussed how the more quiet we are and the more we pray, the more we see our husbands grow. There's much written about being quiet and not contentious as the more a wife pushes the harder a husband will push back. We must be silent, live our life for the Lord and follow our husbands, not lead them. It's a relenting of our desires and killing the flesh.
* Killing the flesh. This is the root of most marital problems and if we wives would simply focus on ourselves and serving the Lord in contentment and joy, our husbands would be free from the bondage of feminism and allowed to seek the Lord's will without distraction. We talked about how woman was made FOR man, from man and that we are to be helpers to them. Killing the flesh of Genesis 3 where woman wants to be over man but he is to rule over her. Killing the flesh in fear, in guilt, sadness and self pity in ailments. These are all things that we need to let go and allow God to fill us and overcome all things.
* The joy of being a new creation. We shared how we are so thankful when we compare who we used to be, to who we are now. How our Father heard our cries even in our disobedience, He had us on a path to come to the truth. The transformation process we went through in our repentance and how God revealed His truth to us and continues to do so because He is so merciful.
* The mercy and patience of our Father. He is so merciful in His patience when we don't 'understand' the depths of something that we should. That life circumstances can help us to see, although it's sad that it can take so long to get through the wicked heart and stiff neck of man. We shared how we are to 'hear' those who have walked before us and ponder on such things and ask God to help us see sooner rather than later if we kill our flesh and allow Him to do so.
* Leaving this world behind. The older we get the closer we see eternity and the easier it is to leave this world and those in it, to God and His will. As we strive to be obedient in all ways, doing the work we are commanded in the roles we have been given, we set our sights on the reward ahead...eternity of rest with the Father.
* Not practicing partiality. We shared how we love our earthly family and pray for them but we have left them where they are, in the hands of the Lord, and must move on because there are other children, grandchildren, mothers, sisters etc that God may need us to be ready to minister to. Our loved ones are no more important than all the rest of the world.
* Simplifying our lives. It's easy to amass things that we don't need, that become a hindrance to us. Getting by with the basics is what we should be striving for, not the latest gadget and perfect home. They are contemplating a big life change which could strip and refine them greatly and we encourage this. We have seen in our life that although we thought we were being simple, refining our life, frugal with resources, that each year the Lord reveals more that we need to do. It's a matter of letting go of the mindsets we always had, 'that's how I like things', setting our standards of what will make us content at what level of quality vs just getting by in this world.
These were the main subjects we spoke of and if I recall more I will share with you. Let us all remember why we are here...it's not to have a nice life, it's not about our comfort and pleasure...it's about our sacrifice to the Lord, edifying the saints and doing the work that we have been commanded to do. Within all that we will find that contentment and joy, through the Father, as He molds us to who He wants us to be.
We are working our way to the next destination for (Lord willing) much street preaching and witnessing, pressing on down the long empty highways of the wide open western part of the states. Seeking those that are lost and shining the light of truth into a dark world.
Have a joyous and content day, no matter what your life is, praise God for it!
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...