My sister-in-law had given me a small booklet a long time ago. It was entitled "More Precious Than Jewels" and it was a handbook to be used along with a seminar or a women's Bible study. It was also just good alone for food for thought. She gave it to me right before I got married. Figuring I pretty much knew all there was to know about submission and honoring, etc, I skipped ahead to the one area that was foreign to me. (ahem...) Not till a few days ago while purging our book collection did I stumble upon this booklet again. This time I opened it and started at chapter one - not seven. :)
God has recently been exposing so many areas in my life when I have fallen shamefully short of his requirements as a wife. While I always view these times as ultimately for my good, they have not been pleasant to say the least. Mostly, God has been graciously humbling me to see all my faults that I, through my biased vision, have been unable to discern. My sins are great indeed. I've seen so many areas that I have not given to the Lord and have been trying to control through my own wisdom.
Beginning to read through this "Bible study" booklet has helped to confirm what is constantly a head knowledge, but not always quite a heart knowledge. The lady begins by reiterating the two keys that must be ever present to have a fulfilling life, marriage and relationships with those around us. I thought I'd share the two keys with you. Let's prayerfully consider these and strive to continue in these truths.
1st Key: Let Christ live His life through me -
a. We cannot imitate God's ideal. Without Christ we can do nothing. God can make His ideal a reality in and through me. (Jn. 15:5, Phil 2:12-13, Phil 4:13 & I Thess 5:24)
b. He must first be in me if His is going to manifest Himself through me. This comes by having a vital personal relationship and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. (Rev 3:20, Eph 2:8-9, Rom 10:9-10, Jn 1:12)
c. We must choose to make ourselves available to Him, trust Him and actively obey Him. (Gal 2:20, Rom 12:1-2, Rom 6:11-13, Heb 11:6, Jn 14:15, I Jn 3:28, Rom 6:16)
2nd Key: Desire to have a growing love relationship with Jesus Christ
a. having a progressively deeper, richer and more intimate union and communion with Jesus in order to really know Him in our own personal experience.
b. knowing Him on this intimate level means spending time and concentrating on Him throughout our day.
And by following these two keys we automatically are pleasing our Lord and also our husbands!
I will probably be sharing some of my thoughts as I go through this self appointed Bible study with myself and my Lord. :) Please share insights and advice as the Lord leads. Thanks!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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7 comments:
What simple (yet difficult) instructions! It's easy for me to be convicted in an area (because I have a pretty guilty complex) but when I actually try to apply it in my life I fall terribly short. So many times I try to do things on my own strength instead of relying on Him who is faithful. Thanks for sharing, Karen! :)
I have recently been challenged about my personal devotions habits. Being the only one present in our home, I felt a burden of responsibility to teach Violet the Word from an early age. I pressured myself to start out our days with bible reading together. Unfortunately, the morning can only hold so many things, and with exercise, personal devotions, reading to Violet, and getting a morning "nap" in (sleeping in till 8 defeats morning sickness and fibromyalgia for me) all vying for first place, I found myself often harboring a "grouchy heart" by mid-morning, regretful of the things that DIDN'T get first priority. My sister challenged me last week to start a ritual, like washing one's face before bed, no matter what time it is, of spending at least 10 minutes reading the bible in the mornings. Not necessarily anything Relevant, or planned, just, whatever scripture you open to that day. Reach for it before you get out of bed, and make yourself stay there reading no matter what happens, crying children, ringing phone, hungry tummies. A commitment of that size I thought I could make. After I did my first day, I realized that that was the key you just spoke of! Personal face-to-face time with the Lord was more important even than reading the bible to Violet! When I begin my day with my mind refreshed from the Word, and having spoken to God, committing my time to Him, everything else falls into place. I cease from making it MY day, and MY time, and it becomes HIS. Then, other things like, exercise, reading to Violet, etc. all are received as a gift from His hand, rather than either a failure or a success on my part. The focus is shifted....and my heart is at peace. A peaceful heart is the CENTER of a peaceful home, which is the goal of every wife and mother, I know. Thanks for writing about this. It's SO foundational to our lives as Homemakers.
Catherine,
I understand because I also can get weighed down by guilt. What helps me evaluate my guilt is to ask is this a worldly or godly sorrow. Worldly sorrow brings death (depression, self-focused pity, loath, etc) but godly sorrow brings repentance (a change in actions, thoughts, attitudes, etc). Also, it is helpful to remember that the Holy Spirit brings conviction, but Satan brings condemnation.
You said you "fall terribly short". Is this by God's standard or your idea of what you think God requires of you? If you read Susi's comment below you will notice she mentions reading the Bible for 10 minutes a day. To some that may see very easy and short, but I can attest to the fact that being a wife and mother makes it easy to shift your priorities and by the end of the day the only time you've prayed is over meals. For her, committing to 10 minutes is pleasing the Lord because it is what He has laid on her heart to do. She is pleasing Him with giving him 10 minutes in the morning. (So, so, so much easier said than done when you've got kids!)
You may have some arbitrary set of ideas of what you must do to be a growing Christian, but if you evaluate these standards and truly ask the Lord on a day to day basis what He wants from you than you can be free from guilt and be pleasing Him.
While single I was able to commit many hours to prayer and reading, but I would be surprised as I brought myself before the Lord each day that some days I was actually pleasing Him to say a brief set of prayers and then begin serving others or fulfilling my chores, duties, responsibilities, etc.
Sorry to ramble, but I felt like sharing because I too can struggle in this area. Just make sure whatever you're doing you are in the center of God's will and there will be no guilt!
Susi,
I remember hearing something about committing 5 minutes of prayer to the Lord everyday. I was amazed as I did this to discover how much it helped to keep me connected with my Lord. 5 minutes seemed like so little, but once I actually gave the time to pray I also found that 5 minutes didn't matter and it could and usually did go longer. It was just making the effort and time to do so.
I appreciate your sharing this and I totally agree about once we give our day to the Lord everything else is a gift. How beautifully put. Hope all is well with you and your family!
Thanks for this post Karen! Recently I picked up Facinating Womanhood again and I am greatly challenged to higher ground... It is depressing to see areas of failure in my own life. And yet exciting to try new ideas on my man and see how he responds. For me a key is cultivating a thankful attitude and just knowing I am INCREDIBLY blessed to have a guy who is as interested as I am in our marriage thriving. We have not been without some definite challenges this year. For some reason the mountaintop experiences have been equally amazing. Two thumbs up for this post!!
Kristen,
Thanks for the comment. I've forgotten about Fascinating Womanhood, but it sounds so familiar. Who is it by? I really understand what you were saying and having very trying times this year, but also having equally wonderfully bonding times as well.
Hi Karen!! The book is by Helen Andelin.She has alot of good things to share... although I wouldn't totally swallow her approach to relating to your man sexually. That is one down side to the book; she seems to believe you should not give your guy a 'cookie' every time he asks just as you would not give a child a cookie at every request. I'm pretty sure all you gals out there reading this would agree there's a big difference between my guy asking for a 'cookie' (or a game of scrabble, whichever you prefer) and my child asking for a cookie! But she has alot of insight into the two's sides of an ideal woman from a man's perspective; angelic and human. She has alot of practical advice for us ladies and testimonies of wives who saw amazing results from living as a fascinating woman.
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