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WELCOME to this page which is dedicated, and will focus on the needs of women, so that we can be the women of God of Christ, His Warrior Bride.
May you ALL be blessed by it and it is work in progress, like we all are in God.
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BEHIND EVERY GOOD WOMAN
Show me a happily married woman, and I’ll show you a husband who reflects the love as Christ gave the church. So many couples have a wrong image of what a marriage should look like. So many husbands have grown up learning that they go to work, come home and do whatever they want, while the woman is wanting companionship and help with the kids. But somehow, the husband believes it’s the woman’s job to take care and discipline the kids. Marriage is a partnership, and both need to participate. Proverbs 31 says alot about a woman, and what she can do. And in that, it talks about her husband, how he’s looked up to, and it’s because he has a loving and supporting wife.
But that wife would not be loving and supporting if the husband wasn’t loving and supporting to her FIRST! I recall a scripture in the Bible that says, “We love God because He first loved us.” I believe it’s the same way with couples. A man who truly loves, encourages, and esteems his wife over himself will only gain love, respect and admiration and trust back.
What we see in society is a man ruling the family and demanding respect. After all, he’s the bread winner, and doing EVERYTHING for the family. But if he comes home and sits in front of the TV or is glued to his computer, that is NOT what marriage and family is all about. If that were the case, that person should never have kids or be married, because having kids you have to be self-less.
I remember a movie called “Hook” where Peter (Peter pan all grown up) was ignoring his kids activities at school. It really hurt the boy, but he was busy working FOR the family. His wife said to him, “Peter, you are missing everything.” If a husband only buries himself in his work and not giving any of himself to his wife or family, he is “missing” everything. Many marriages are dissolved for this very thing.
My husband told me within a year of our being married that he didn’t’ marry me for sex, for doing my dishes, or laundry or cooking and cleaning, he married me because I’m his best friend. So if we have sex, or if I do dishes, or laundry or cooking, so be it… but it’s not a “have to” at all, those things are now things I want to do, because of His love and friendship towards me. I’m out ministering, I’m even remodeling my bathrooms, and I could only do these things because of his love and encouragement towards me. And guess what? He is truly happy and enjoying his life too, because when mama is happy, everyone is happy… as the saying goes.
But mama ain’t going to be happy if the husband doesn’t love her as Christ loves the church. Then the woman will respect and admire and offer herself freely to him. It’s a win win situation, and it’s scriptural.
So if you have a home filled with strife, and anger, and sadness, I would take a good look at your relationship with your spouse and if it’s in godly order or not. Is the woman leading the home or the man? Is there fear of parents from the kids or can they come to their parents with any problem or issue without fear? Is there strife in the home? Is there distrust anywhere? Is the woman feeling isolated and alone even though she is married? These things have been attributed to a lack of love offered FIRST by the husband.
Now, there are times when a husband actually is loving his wife, but his love is being rejected. I did that for 9 years in our marriage before I let my husband in. And it was only when I was able to fully understand and receive my heavenly Father’s love, that I was opened to receiving Tom’s love. Then the flood gates opened, and we’ve been truly happily married for over 22 years…
The other reason marriages fall apart is that somewhere in that relationship, a lie got in. They stopped being honest with each other somewhere along the way, and that will mess up all communication. Sometimes people stop talking to each other, it’s because there is a lie wedged in there somewhere. Both have to come to grips with this, find out where this started, and get that resolved through forgiveness and confession. We have to stay honest with each other at all times for this to work! God can only work with truth… If there is fear of being honest, then there is a love issue here, because in love, there is no fear.
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THE GOD KIND OF FORGIVENESS
The LORD said to me again, ‘Go, show your love to a woman loved by someone else, who has been unfaithful to you. In the same way the LORD loves the people of Israel, even though they worship other gods and love to eat the raisin cakes.’ So I bought her for six ounces of silver and ten bushels of barley. Then I told her, ‘You must wait for me for many days. You must not be a prostitute, and you must not have sexual relations with any other man. I will act the same way toward you.’ In the same way Israel will live many days without a king or leader, without sacrifices or holy stone pillars, and without the holy vest or an idol. After this, the people of Israel will return to the LORD their God and follow him and the king from David's family. In the last days, they will turn in fear to the LORD, and he will bless them Hosea 3:1-5,
True love is strong and unconditional – God’s love – love benefits others at a cost to self; a love that we cannot understand or explain in human terms. Hosea was a prophet, and his story within the bible shows God’s kind oflove. In a nutshell, Hosea married Gomer and they had three children. You got to have felt something to have produced children and lived together for a while.
However, Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea, and betrayed the covenant of marriage. Hosea as a man, had every right to walk away, but true love that never fails.
Hosea 3:2 “So I bought her for six ounces of silver and ten bushels of barley” (NCV).
Think about it. Hosea, a prophet, a man of God was the one who had been wronged and humiliated, and he was the one following God but he was also the one called to sacrifice. Do you know what true sacrifice of love is?... love benefits others at a cost to self, we die to self. (listen to my husband’s teaching self sacrifice here)
Do we really capture the true meaning of sacrifice, imagining that it is only a decision to “give up” self-centered rights, hoarded resources or the freedom to walk away. No, Sacrifice is a mirror reflecting our own pride and sin, calling us to lay down ALL sense of human justice or fairness in order for God to work in and through us to love others.
Let’s look at the sacrifices God called Hosea to make?
· Hosea had to sacrifice his pride.
The phrase “loved by another,” shows us that Gomer was owned by a family friend or fellow citizen. She may have been sleeping with one or more of Hosea’s friends or, at the very least, one of his neighbors. Hosea had to swallow his pride and go to her in love and forgiveness. Now let me just tell you that if I had been the one going to find Gomer, I would have been more likely to snatch her up by the hair and drag her home in front of as many people as possible to prove she could not get away with what she was doing. Better yet, I would have said, “Good riddance. You can keep her!” I am postive I could find many who would agree with my plan of punishment and revenge or even worse. If you look at it Hosea stood to gain very little but lose a great deal by choosing to respond as he did. Hosea was called on to sacrifice everything to redeem a woman who did not deserve sacrifice or redemption. Jesus did the same thing for us when He died on the cross. He now calls us to respond with that same God-like heart attitude of redemption.
· Hosea had to sacrifice his rights.
Gomer broke the covenant of marriage. Don’t miss this truth. Biblically, Hosea had every justification to divorce Gomer. He could have tossed her out and turned her children against her, stripping her life of every good thing. Hosea could have destroyed Gomer, and no one would have blamed him. Instead, Hosea rose to a higher place when he laid down his anger, hurt and the right to retaliate or seek revenge.
Hosea took the initiative and went to her. Matthew describes a forgiveness we find hard to understand. “So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” Matthew 5:23. The verse says. If we know someone has something against us and we refuse to deal with it, not anything we do or say will count in Kingdom work. God always seeks restoration and reconciliation and commands us to look past what seems like a logical reaction to the highest obedience we can offer.
God wants us to know His unconditional love, and many of us have to learn and be shown that kind of love which surpasses understanding. To truly love is to not be taken for a sucker but help that hurting person, Gomer had been used and abused and didn’t know what faithfulness was, it took Hosea to show her God’s kind of love despite who she was. She would go back to what she had known many times until Hosea proved to her God’s kind of love and eventually he did. God doesn’t want offensive sacrifice He wants us to show His mercy that He has exercised to us, whilst in our sin. God through Hosea showed the children of Israel what sort of God He was and prophesied of the coming redemption through His Son. Are we ready to show God’s kind of love?
Let’s Pray
Father, I am so tired of holding on to the pain in my life. I want to forgive those who have hurt me and learn how to let go of the pain and walk on. Today, I lay down my pride and my rights. I will not seek revenge or retaliation. Instead, I choose to love my enemies and bless those who have harmed me. Please give me the strength and power to honor you as I step out in obedience. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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FAITH GROWS AMID STORMS
"He hath acquainted himself with my beaten path. When he hath searched me out, I shall come out shining" Job 23:10
Faith grows amid storms"--just four words, but oh, how important to the people who have been in the storms! Boy are there many to overcome.
Faith is that God-given ability which, when exercised, brings the unseen into plain view, and by which the impossible things are made possible. It deals with supernatural, God’s vision.
It "grows amid storms"; that is, where there are disturbances in the spiritual atmosphere, where we have stirred some demon activity by worrying them that we God’s people are taking back territory for God. Storms are caused by the conflicts of elements; and the storms of the spiritual world are conflicts with hostile elements. Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
In such an atmosphere faith finds its productive soil; and comes more quickly to full fruition. The staunchest tree isn’t found in the shelter of the forest, but out in the open where the winds from every quarter beat upon it, and bend and twist it until it becomes a giant in stature this is the tree which the mechanic wants his tools made of, and the wagon-maker seeks. When we feel that we know we are building faith against all that is against us, but that isn’t true for God is with us and within us and What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31.
So in the spiritual world, when you see a giant, remember the road that you must travel to come up to His side is not along the sunny lane where wild flowers ever bloom; but a steep, rocky, narrow pathway where the blasts of hell will almost blow you off your feet; where the sharp rocks cut the flesh, where the projecting thorns scratch the brow, and the venomous beasts hiss on every side.
It is a pathway of sorrow and joy, of suffering and healing balm, of tears and smiles, of trials and victories, of conflicts and triumphs, of hardships and perils and buffetings, of persecutions and misunderstandings, of troubles and distress; through all of which we are made more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
"Amid storms." Right in the midst where it is fiercest. You may shrink back from the ordeal of a fierce storm of trial…but go in! God is there to meet you in the center of all your trials, and to whisper His secrets which will make you come forth with a shining face and an indomitable faith that all the demons of hell shall never afterwards cause to waver.
Heavenly Father I know I am in the world but not of it and I know more than anything that despite being in turmoil or against pressures of this world I know my faith is growing, I am being tested and refined for Your service for furthering the kingdom of God which is such a privilege for I know I am precious in Your sight and nothing, but nothing can take me away from You and I am more than a conqueror amidst the storms in Jesus Name Amen.
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HONEST TO GOD
How is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit? —ACTS 5:3
A church with a heart for the poor held a pledge campaign to raise money for people in their community. Church members were generous, making large and sacrificial pledges of money.
One couple made an especially generous pledge, but when the time came to write the check, their pledge seemed too extravagant. Privately, they agreed to donate a smaller sum. The following Sunday after the offering was taken, the pastor noticed that the couple's check was smaller than he remembered their pledge to be.
"Is this what you pledged?" he asked them.
"Oh yes," they assured him. And then they dropped dead.
This might sound implausible, but something very similar to this happened in the time of the apostles when Ananias and Sapphira shortchanged a pledge they made to the Jerusalem church. The issue wasn't that God needed the extra drachmas; it was that the couple was dishonest before God.
As the apostle Peter said to Ananias, "You have not lied to men but to God" (Acts 5:4).
Lying damages a relationship. If you have been tempted to lie to God, ask yourself why you feel the need to hide the truth. Speaking the truth to God not only strengthens your relationship with him but also prepares you for trustworthy relationships with others.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I want to be completely honest with You—about my sin, my feelings, my doubts, and my joys. Guide me daily to be honest with You always in Jesus Name Amen
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FINDING SATISFACTION
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13
God has provided us with so many things to enjoy. But too often our lives are filled with turmoil instead of contentment. Four of the many practices that create dissatisfaction are .
Busyness. We live in a hurry-up society, rushing from one activity to another. Well Jesus did not rush anywhere, yet He accomplished whatever God gave Him to do. Not once did He tell His followers to move faster. He even praised Mary for choosing to stop her work and spend time with Him - Luke 10:39, 42.
Earthly perspective. Too often we live focused on our circumstances. Our minds think about what happened earlier in the week, what’s on today’s agenda, and the activities occurring next week, month, or year. No wonder enjoyment of life remains unobtainable. The solution is to have an eternal perspective, which acknowledges that God is in charge and our goal is to please Him. We should be living for Now – God is a God of NOW. Listen to my husband’s Teaching ‘There is no future in God’
Self-imposed pressure. We have all experienced the unavoidable burdens of schoolwork, employment, and relationships. But we bring needless pressure on ourselves when we allow unnecessary “musts” and “shoulds” to rule us. The solution is to turn to God, acknowledge His right to order our days, and ask for His plan.
Unhealthy attitudes. Perfectionism, false guilt, and apathy all undermine our enjoyment of life.
Satisfaction is found in a life that reflects God’s priorities—and time with Him comes first. Reading His Word, we become mindful of the Father’s great love, learn what He views as important, and experience the joy of belonging to Him. When contentment is elusive, it’s time to examine our priorities. It comes from fellowship and a relationship with the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent to us to teach us, to comfort us to guide us in all truth. Ask yourself am I in a relationship with Him?
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, please forgive me when I don’t communicate with You and find that I chasing myself around. I know I must do things, but Father help me prioritise Your priorities and not mine. I want to sit at Your feet like Mary and be Still and Know You are My GOD. Thank You in Jesus mighty Name Amen.
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 I AM READING...
'Woman to Woman' by Joyce Meyer.
I will share more next week..
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LET GO OF THE REINS
"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him." Romans 12:1 NLT
Over the years before Jesus died on the cross, God called the Israelites to offer animals as sacrifices for their sin. These sacrifices were offered repeatedly at regular time intervals.
Jesus came and gave his own life on the cross to pay the ultimate everlasting sacrifice for our sins. (Hebrews 9:11-14) Now on repentance when we go before our Heavenly Father He doesn’t see us, He sees the blood, the blood of His Son which was shed. The blood, Jesus stands between us when we fall and repent and us and God. God looks upon us and not the sin. An example of this is on my husband’s website video clip….www.baraqministries.org.uk….click here for the page.
Us as people now no longer have to offer sin sacrifices. Which is good because of animal cruelty etc.,.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior and make him Lord of our lives, our sins are forgiven and Jesus clothes us in his righteousness. But he does call us to be a living sacrifice by surrendering our lives to him. He wants us to turn control over to his care. He views our total submission as worship. Go on admit it… how many of us hold onto things thinking we can fix it or we are the answer.. we are not the answer God is the answer. If we are submitted to God, then God can use us an answer to someone else, but only in pointing them to God etc.,.
Most of us like to feel in control, this is not a Godly trait. The thought of turning control over to someone else, even God, might seem frightening—or just scary.
What we need to remember is that God is a merciful and compassionate God. He wants what is best for us—and only he knows what that really is. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. We aren't. How much better to submit to his control, to trust his plan, than to stick to our "I can do it myself" attitude. Trust me, it is so much easier to have God work on our behalf than try to be Holy Ghost junior, trust me you can never be that, the Holy Spirit does an excellent job without our help.
Today are you struggling with a temptation … a problem … a challenge right now? Are you willing to turn it over to God, submitting completely to his plan? Do you want God’s peace?
Let’s Pray
Father, I thank you for Jesus. I thank you that my sins are forgiven. I have committed my life to you … and claim to make you Lord … but so many times I try to take control again. I know this shows a lack of trust in you. Please forgive me. May my body—all that I am—be a living sacrifice to you. In Jesus' name Amen.
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