INDEPENDENT WOMAN

So I was watching a TV show where they were discussing woman and whether or not woman are just too independent nowadays to the point where it emasculates men.

We all know that woman have become more independent presently than ever before. I must say that I don't like the way that some men make Women's Independence seem like something to be ashamed of or something that woman should hide in order not to make our brothers feel less.

I'm sure many Brothers out there would disagree with me and maybe even sisters but I think that being Independent is not a bad thing for a woman as long as it is accompanied by Humility.


Maybe humility is a characteristic that a lot of sisters out there don't have or maybe women have been oppressed for so long that we don't want to be humble, but we want to show off  our independence for as long as we can. Humility is definitely a good character to posses as a woman and even just generally as a human being.

Funny thing is that the issue of  woman being "too independent" seem to escalate mostly in relationships. I ask myself why is it that someone who claims to "love" you would not appreciate and love your independence? I am by no means defending woman that become too Independent that they "forget their place" as people put it.....lol even the term "forget their place" seem to aggravate some woman.

Let me just put it out there that I am a believer that a woman does "have a place". this is of course in the context of marriage. The bible clearly states that a woman is a helper to her husband." Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him. "(Genesis 2:18). It is not a myth or something that people just made up, the bible does call us Women "HELPERS". The bible does mention other responsibilities of a wife but that's a story for another day. BEING A HELPER HOWEVER DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CAN'T BE INDEPENDENT.

This is certainly an issue that as raised some interest for me. The bible says wives must submit to their husbands. It doesn't say that but if you become a CEO then you can stop submitting, there are no clauses or buts,  after all God is not Man that he should lie.

Maybe God knew all these things that would happen in the world, that woman would start becoming independent and that men would think that its "too much". Maybe that's why he put it in plain and simple English that "wives must submit to their husbands". Their is another leg to the submission though, it says that "Husbands love your wives like Christ loved the church". Christ loved the church so much that he died in the same way husbands must be willing and able to die for their wives.

So if you love someone so much that you could die for them then surely washing dishes sometimes would be a walk in the park and likewise cooking(If you are able) if not make a plan...lol.

Okay maybe I'm deviating just a little bit but back to Independence don't think independence should be an issue in a relationship unless you make it an issue. Maybe men have become too insecure but I believe that an assertive woman should not be a bad thing. If it's an attractive characteristic before marriage then after marriage it shouldn't become the  cause of tension.

A Proverbs 31 woman certainly seems like an independent woman to me among other things so brothers when you pray for a proverbs 31 woman, you get the full package Independence included.

A man who loves a woman will encourage her to be greater each day and will not be intimidated by her independence. A woman who loves a man will humble herself, respect herself and her man.


<BLESSINGS>

 

 

INSIDE OUT...YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE.

This morning as I woke up, I was reminded of Psalm 139. This Psalm in a nutshell speaks about how we cannot Run nor Hide from God because he knows us inside out, the good, the bad and the ugly and yet God still loves us.

This for me was such a good reminder of the love of God for us because often in life we think that there is something we have to do in order to qualify for God's love. We feel that if we sin less or if we are nicer or if we give more that we will qualify but the love of God is so good and so pure that we do not need to qualify because we already qualified when we were born. We qualified when Jesus died on the cross for us.

This last week, I was  also reminded of just how fragile life is and how life can just change for us in a second. I was reminded of how we can have so many plans in the early hours of the morning when we wake up, we can plan tomorrow or even 10 years from now. We can plan what we going to have for dinner tonight and where we going for holiday in December. However life is just so fragile that in a second all those plans can be no more. Everything that we planned can just vanish in a blink of an eye and our lives can come to an end.

So as we go about this new beautiful week that we are so privileged to be a part of because so many people were alive last week but are now no longer with us, therefore we have to consider it a privilege to be alive. Lets remember that God's love is so enormous and so everlasting that we do not have to work for it. God as qualified us and he loves us regardless of yesterday or whats to come tomorrow, he will always love us.

The same love that God gives us so freely and so unashamedly is the same love that God requires of us and even more because we are often so undeserving but he loves us anyway.

I realised that just as fragile as life is and just as quickly as our lives can end, that is how fragile we should treat our relationship with God . We should never take anything for granted especially our relationship with God because it is the most important relationship we will ever have and anything so important should definitely be treated with care.

We shouldn't procrastinate on making our relationship with God right in the same way that we procrastinate making our earthly relationship with people right because tomorrow is not promised to any of us.

So as we go about this week, lets challenge ourselves to make all our relationships that are wrong RIGHT. Let's draw near to God and make him our number one, lets forgive all those who as hurt us and make things RIGHT. After all who Promised you Tomorrow??????

PRESENTLY ABESENT FATHERS.

Recently we all celebrated the fathers in our lives, Fathers Day.  Fathers were put into our lives for a reason, to love, protect and provide for  their families and Fathers are suppose to be their daughters first love and a son's first hero.


Thank God for all the awesome fathers out there who don't take their responsibilities lightly. I am grateful for all the opportunities that I had growing up, never lacked anything, always had more than enough.  However I always wished and longed for something more emotional with my father. He was not the soppy lovey dovey kind of dad.

My Dad never left, he was present but mostly in an absent kind of way. He was presently absent. He worked hard, he is a hard worker. Some holidays when I came home from boarding school and res he would be gone or would be going on a work trip. As a child I felt that he was always travelling and that made him presently absent.


My dad did alot of things right, sending us to school and giving us the best education that he possible could, he was present in may kind of ways but also absent in alot of other ways. I learnt watching him that a fathers job in the house is to provide for his family and educate his kids. Now while I don't disagree with that thought and I am so grateful for that oppourtunity because many do not have that same opportunity, I however missed out on the other aspects of a fathers role in a family, a father spending time with his kids, taking them out for ice-cream, simple father and child time.


I was never "Daddy's Little Girl". My Dad always assumed his role as the "FATHER" and that put me in line as the child therefore those 2 barriers just could never be crossed. Growing up I had a desire to have that, I never experienced that closeness that some people have with their dads, while on the other hand I was also very grateful to just have a father because I saw the emptiness that people often feel when fathers are absent and the destruction that it can even cause in the life of their kids. The devil comes to steal, to kill and to destroy and it is only god who can bring restoration into our lives.

Fathers need to realise the crippling effect that not being around as on their kids, absent fathers is one of the largest if not largest social issue of our time.The facts surrounding the impact of a fathers absence tell a story. While it is easy to focus on the increased rates of addiction, depression, crime, poverty, abuse and alike associated with those who have grown up in a fatherless environment these are only symptoms Fathers presence are needed in homes today and Fathers should make a concious decision to be present in their kids lives and families.


While its not about bashing fathers because blame and guilt doesnt fix things, the kind of family that you were brought up in, the kind of Dad you have or had, absent or present or even presently absent does not define who you are today, only God defines who you are. You get to write your future, your story and  although you cannot change your past, you can leave it in the past and look to the future.

Let's not make the kind of father you have or had define who you become. Alot of woman suffer from the "Absent Father" syndrome but having an "absent father" or a "presently absent" father does not mean that you have to act in a certain way or make bad choices. Your father as lived or is living his life and he made his decisions weather or not it was for your good. All you can do is move forward and write your own future with God the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

I pray that God will teach all Fathers and Future Fathers how to love their kids and cherish the time they have on earth with them.

                        

<BLESSINGS>

The Power of the Tongue.

I had the most amazing week and I'm just in awe that I would like to share some of my experiences with

all of you. If there ever was a time when I believed that all things are possible, its now, its this week, its right here, right now.

When God shows up, he shows up with all his power and all his might and when the bible says in Matthew 19 vs 26  "But Jesus beheld [them], and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" it is all true"

This week I experienced the power of the tongue, the power of professing and confessing positive things, I experienced what it really means when the bible says that his power is made perfect in weakness(Yes that is my favourite verse). I experienced the true meaning of Gods grace being made sufficient for us and what God meant when he says " things which are impossible to men are possible for God"

I had amazing encounters and true revelations of the love of God and how it is almost as if we each have our own peace of God because the same God that shows up for people all the way on the other side of the world, really does show up for you if you ask.

Things which were previously impossible to me were made possible this week. I almost feel as if when we speak positive things into our lives and allow God and the Holy spirit to just work in our lives and to minister to us, things change, situations change, circumstance turn and things that were previously impossible for us become possible with the blink of an eye.

I truly believe that the power of the tongue is the most important lesson that came out of this weak for me. It literally as the ability to make you or break you and this week it definitely made a difference in my life.

Lets look at some of the verses in the bible where the power of the tongue is mentioned:

Proverbs 18 vs 21 - Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof

Provers 15 vs 1- A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger

1 Peter 3 vs 10 - For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil

Those are just a few of the verses in the bible that addresses the power of the tongue. So therefore our tongues have so much power,  the power of life and death, the power to make us or break us then let us profess only good things into our lives and the lives of those we love for it is our words that will bring fruits into our lives.

Thank you to my MR for catching me when I fall,  for being strong when I'm weak, for teaching me how to be strong by being an example of strength and for always reminding me to speak positively into my life. You simply the BEST, I fall in love with you all over every day :-) (Don't get me started)

Try confessing goodness into you life today and see things change and things coming to pass, keeping professing, keep confessing. Things will eventually happen.

<BLESSINGS>

Delay not Denial, Silence not No.

WAITING ON GOD.....

So I have been asking God for a couple of things in my life. Things that I want God to bring to pass in my life. However a couple of Days ago, I was really struck by something I read. It went like this: HAVE YOU PRAYED ABOUT IT AS MUCH AS YOU HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT.

My answer to that very simple question was NO. I have prayed about it but definitely not as much as I have talked about it. Yes I have prayed about it but  not consistently.

Does God need us to consistently pray about something we want? Is praying for the same thing over and over again not an act of impatience to God's timing or a lack of faith? They say God heard you the first time you prayed for that thing and you don't need to keep on asking him for the same thing over and over again. They also say that you should pray consistently in order to show God what you want. BUT WHAT DOES GOD SAY.......

Well I finally found the answer to my questions in 1 Thessalonian 5 vs 17, the bible tells us  Rejoice ever more, Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

God wants us to Pray without ceasing yet man tells us to pray once and leave it to God.

Sometimes when we pray for something and we don't get an answer to our prayer, we think that God isn't listening, that he doesn't love us, that our desires are not in accordance with his will and although this can be very true, it is not always.

Sometimes God is simply telling us not yet my child, not now, not like this, not at this time. Its not a now, its just a Delay. Its not a No, its just a not yet. A perfect plan comes from the Lord.

No Good  thing happens without prayer, and that is why we are told to pray without ceasing. The pain of feeling like your prayers are not being answered doesn't compare to the Joy that's coming when God answers your prayers.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart. Don’t try to figure everything out on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do and everywhere you go. He’s the one who will keep you on track.

Woman In waiting...

 

Dance with God and he’ll perfect everything that concerns you:

"Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone; to have a deep soul relationship with another; to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God says, “No, not until you’re satisfied, fulfilled, and content with being loved by Me alone, and with having intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone, discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found; only then will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me. Exclusive of anyone else, exclusive of any other desires or longings, I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing, one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow me to bring it to you. You just wait. That’s all. Don’t be anxious. Don’t worry. Don’t look around at the things others have gotten or that I've given them. Don’t look at the things you think you want. Just keep looking off and away up to Me or you’ll miss what I want to show you. And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than you could dream of. You see, until you are ready (I am working even at this moment to have both of you ready at the same time), until both of you are satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have planned for you, you won’t be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me; and this perfect love. And, dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love; I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly. I am God. Believe and be satisfied.”

THE POWER IN WEAKNESS.

I have been pondering on a verse;  2 Corinthians 12:9 which says: But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

The reason why I have been pondering on this verse is because sometimes when we are going through situations in our lives, we feel as though we cannot and must not show weakness. I have felt like that so many times but not any longer. If Gods power is made perfect in weakness then we must be weak for GOD to be strong because how can God show his strength in our lives or in our situations if we are always strong?

This verse was further solidified for me in the story of Hannah and her quest to God to give her a child. In 1Samuel we read about how Hannah went before God and cried out to him. She showed her weakness before her most strong God, when Hannah could no longer bear the pain of her empty womb, she went to the temple to present her supplication to the Lord. She cried out to the Lord and wept bitterly. She was so upset that she made a promise to the Lord in her request for a son.

Do you know what happened after Hannah cried out to God in desperation, not long after her visit to the temple to present her request to the Lord, she was pregnant. God revealed himself to Hannah in her weakness. In Hannah's weakness God's POWER was made PERFECT and he answered her request.

I realised that I need to stop trying so hard to keep things together especially before God. If we cannot come to God with our weaknesses and in our weaknesses then we are missing out on the opportunity for God to show is power, his might and his strength in our lives and in our situation.


In 2 Corinthians 12 vs 9 God's word says "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Let us boast in our weakness before God, whatever we may be struggling with in any area of our lives, it is an opportunity for us to go before God and Boast about being weak in that area and be glad in it so that he can come into that area or that situation and perfect all that concerns you through is power being made strong.

You cannot save someone who doesn't need saving or who is never weak, that person is doing fine on their own. Go to God with your weakness and he will do Great things even greater than that of Hannah.


<BLESSINGS>