A Woman Who Fears the Lord

The concept of "fear of the Lord" isn't something many people in modern culture really understand. When we hear fear we think of horror movies, scary stories, or dangers in our world. We've been taught many times to view God as our big fuzzy teddy bear in heaven watching us with a grin when we mess up. We aren't afraid of our loving God in any way, and we certainly aren't intimidated or particularly awed by him. I think this is a mistake on our parts. While I believe that God is approachable and wants me to come to him at all times, I do so with awe and respect. I'm not God's equal - in fact, I'm nowhere near his level, and I have to remember that it is a privilege to speak to him every day.

Fear of the Lord is reverence, awe, and respect for God's position and power in our lives. If you aren't intimidated by the God who created the entire universe with a simple word, then let me recommend something to you. My husband and I went through a DVD series with the teens at church called "Body of Evidence." It's put out by Answers in Genesis, and Dr. David Menton takes viewers on a journey through the human body. He explains all the major systems in the body and shows how they are put together on a cellular level. When you see just how intricately we are made, you might just find that reverent awe for the God who put it all together. For instance, did you know that we have machines in our bodies? Bacteria cells have flagellum which are motorized tails that help the bacteria move around within the body. They have rotors, they can travel up to 100,000 rpm, and they can reverse direction and make quarter turns. Sounds kind of like a car, doesn't it? But this is all on a microscopic level. What kind of being designs such a thing for a "simple" bacterial cell??? Doesn't that blow your mind? 

Psalm 139 sums up how we should approach God. He knit each of us together in our mother's wombs... literally. After watching Body of Evidence, you will understand how many different parts of your body actually have a woven structure! He knows when we sit and when we rise - he is everywhere. He knows us, he searches our hearts, and he loves us. Never forget that the Creator of the entire universe KNOWS YOU and SEARCHES YOU. Make sure you are showing him the respect and awe he deserves as your almighty God. 

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Planning a Spiritual Workout

What in the world is a spiritual workout? It's not a phrase you ever hear, right? Many people shudder when they hear the word workout at all because they hate to exercise. Just like our bodies, our spirits need to work and grow. I think of my spirit and soul like I think of my muscles - if I don't work them regularly, they will atrophy and die. If I work them out, they stretch, they grow, and they gain strength. Is it comfortable? No, but growth doesn't happen when we're comfortable. Something us exercise nuts say is that you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable if you want to make changes. The same saying is true for spiritual growth. We can only grow spiritually if we work those "muscles" and stretch outside our comfort zone. 

So how do we plan a spiritual workout? Here are some ideas that might help you plan a workout time with God. 
1. Start with prayer... every time. 
If you want your workout to be successful and beneficial to you, pray about it first. Ask God to open your heart to his word so that you can learn what he wants you to. 
2. Choose your resource. 
What are you going to work on in this workout? Are you working your way through a particular book or study? If so, go into it ready to learn and grow. Make sure that anything you read gets tested in scripture. If you read something that bothers you, go back to the Bible and find the truth. If you're reading your Bible, do so with a heart ready to absorb God's words of wisdom. 
3. Don't give up, even when it gets hard.
Just like a physical workout, you're going to encounter things that make you want to give up sometimes. Maybe you find a passage of scripture that you just can't make sense out of or an author writes something that really bothers you. When you hit these points, DON'T QUIT!!! Go back to #1 and repeat. Pray over whatever is bothering you and ask the Lord to help you through it. Ask someone for help - your preacher, a trusted friend, teacher, or mentor - you may be surprised at how much another believer can help you through.
4. Set a workout schedule and stick to it. 
If you want to get the most out of your workouts, you have to set time aside on a regular basis to do them. It's the only way you will be successful with any goals you set yourself. This works for both spiritual and physical workouts. You can't crack your Bible open once a year and expect to gain knowledge and understand God's word better just like you can't exercise once a year and expect to gain muscle and lose fat. All of our muscles need to be worked on a regular basis to make a difference, and our spirits are the same. If you want to grow stronger in Christ, you have to work those spiritual muscles regularly and let the Spirit teach and train you! 

I hope you are ready to schedule your spiritual workout now! Don't be intimidated. Every journey begins with a step, and you will only gain strength as you spend more time in God's word.   

Challenge Check-Up - Progress on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

 

 

I gave you, my readers, a challenge in Chapter 6 of "Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman." It was to take the passage above and reflect on it and how it relates to you personally and your spiritual energy. I then asked you to brainstorm your ideas and take one particular idea and work to make it reality. I hope that each of you has done this, but if you haven't it's OK. We're going to talk about it in today's blog, and you can do the activity later! 

 

This is probably my favorite analogy of our spiritual energy and the effort God expects us to put into it. One of the reasons I like it is because I'm a big believer in exercise and staying fit and healthy, so I understand what Paul is talking about here. Training my body requires discipline and dedication, and my results suffer when those things are lacking. Training myself spiritually is similar - when I don't work to build my spiritual energy, my life reflects it in negative thinking, interactions, and results. 

 

You may be thinking that Paul's words sound good but don't make much sense to you. If that's the case, let's look at this together. Paul is telling us that we train ourselves spiritually - we grow stronger in Christ's word and live for him in everything we do. Spiritual training requires self-discipline, so we make sure that the things we do, the places we go, and the people we spend our time with are helping us grow closer to Christ, not taking us away or causing us to lose our focus on him. Paul lived as an example to those he taught so that he wouldn't miss out on his prize after the race was run. If you are an example to someone, this message is for you - make sure you aren't just teaching others to live for Christ and living however you want to when they're not around. 

 

As Christians, we shouldn't run around aimlessly with no goal in mind; we should know what we're working towards and set out to accomplish it. Like any great athlete, we're striving for the prize. But, like Paul says, our prize is eternal - we're striving for life with our Lord in heaven forever. I don't know about you, but that makes me want to work harder on my spiritual energy and personal relationship with my savior.   

Does the Body Matter?

Since we are all spiritual beings, does our body matter? Does God care how we treat this body we have? I've known people on either end of the spectrum with this question - there are those who watch everything they put in their bodies and vigorously exercise regularly, and there are those who eat whatever they want and practice the remote-lifting exercise as they watch TV each night. I tend to fall more on the good diet and exercise end of the spectrum, but I've always wondered if God involves himself in our lives this way. 

I've heard people say that this body doesn't matter since we're all looking forward to heaven, and I agree in a way. This body is not the end-all-be-all of our existence, and I'm thankful for that because my body is a bit of a mess with herniated discs, arthritis, and high blood pressure. I look forward to the day I enter heaven and receive my new, spiritual body. However, I don't think the fact that we get a new body in heaven is any excuse for us to mistreat the body we've been given here. 

Let's look at some verses together and see what God has to say about the topic. 
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
Romans 6:11-14 - "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."
Romans 12:1-2 - "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."

I could keep going, but I think these verses provide enough food for thought. What do we learn about our bodies from these passages? Our bodies are God's temple; we are to offer our bodies to God to be used for righteousness, not sin; our spiritual act of worship is offering our bodies to God as living sacrifices and allowing him to transform us. 

I get the impression that God does indeed care how we treat the body we've been given. Think about this for a minute - if you mistreat your body and end up trapped in your own bed at 600 lbs or lose a foot to diabetes due to obesity or get lung cancer from smoking for years, how are you serving God? What glory do you bring him by eating or smoking or drugging yourself into an early grave? 

Look at the passages above again - we have to break out of the world's pattern. We aren't here to serve our own nature; we're here to serve God and do his will. If we're too busy pleasing ourselves and making poor choices for our mortal bodies, we aren't leaving time or energy to work for the Lord and his eternal kingdom. 


 

Spiritual Energy

The month of March is dedicated to Chapter 6: An Energetic Woman. I don't think anyone would argue that the Proverbs 31 Woman is anything but energetic. She could run circles around any of us! However, in this post we're not going to worry about her physical energy so much - we'll get to that next week. I want to talk to you about spiritual energy and its importance to each one of us. 

I'm not talking about mystical spiritual energy found in crystals or your inner being. I'm talking about the energy between you and God and the things you do in your life that either create a stronger bond between you or pull you farther apart. Things like regular prayer, Bible reading and study, and focus on accomplishing God's will in your life nurture your spiritual energy and make it stronger. Neglecting these parts of your life drain your spiritual energy and pull you away from God, thus making your relationship weak. 

The Bible is full of examples of people who worked on maintaining a strong connection with God throughout their lives: King David, Paul, and Jesus are some of my favorite examples. We can read how each of these people relied on God in every part of their lives, and we can often see how things go for them when they allow their connection to God to lapse. One thing they can also show us is how we can go to God when our spiritual energy is flagging, and he will build us back up. 

David writes several of the psalms when he is in dark places in his life, and he always knows that God is his refuge during those times. Here are a few psalms you can check out to see what I'm talking about: 5,13, and 17. There are many more, but these provide a good start for you. Even when things looked hopeless for him, David turned to God for his strength, and he was never disappointed. God always provided him with hope, refuge, and love. 

Paul suffered his fair share of calamities for the Lord's sake, but he was never shaken. In 2 Corinthians 6:3-10, Paul reiterates his dedication to God through all things both good and bad. This is one of my favorite passages because Paul is so passionate in his faith and love for God. 

Jesus lived his life to please God in all ways, and we can read through each of the gospels and see his faithfulness over and over again. Even when he was at his lowest, he relied on his Father for the strength he needed. In Luke 22:42-44, we can see Jesus' anguish as he faces the cross, and we can see where he goes for strength. He trusts God to give him what he needs to get through death on the cross for our sins. When he dies on that cross, he commits his spirit into God's hands. I don't think we can find a better example of strong relationship and positive spiritual energy! 

Spend some time thinking about your level of spiritual energy this week. Are you relying on Bible reading you did years ago to sustain your spirit today? What are you doing each day to nurture your relationship with the Lord and make it stronger?

Skewed Vision

I apologize for falling off the weekly blogging wagon already this year. I have great plans, but I need more inspiration and more time in my day! Since neither is likely to happen any time soon, I'm just going to buckle down and try to get a post out each week, no matter what. 

February has been "Love" month. I hope you've read through "Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman: Learning to Lose the Intimidation." I explore the concept of God's love for us in the book because I think we like to paint God with our paintbrush when it comes to love. I read a troubling article about this very thing last week, and it's still on my mind. 

You may have heard of the controversial former mega-church pastor Rob Bell. He's quite popular with many people because he holds a "modern" view of Christianity that makes people feel good about themselves. Here's a good example for you: Bell is now Oprah's spiritual advisor - don't ask me what that means because I'm not sure. I think it means he's there to make her feel good about whatever she wants to believe. Rob and his wife Kristen recently appeared on Oprah's show to talk about marriage and the book they recently wrote that talks about redefining marriage. 

During the segment, they talk about how irrelevant any church is that doesn't embrace the gay marriage issue. You can read an article about this from The Christian Post here: http://www.christianpost.com/news/former-megachurch-pastor-rob-bell-tells-oprah-the-church-is-moments-away-from-embracing-gay-marriage-134264/. 

Here's a quote from their interview:
"I think culture is already there and the church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense, when you have in front of you flesh-and-blood people who are your brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles, and co-workers and neighbors, and they love each other and just want to go through life," he said.
"There are churches who are moving forward and there are churches who are almost regressing and making it more of a battle," added his wife. 

Do you see why this situation bothered me so much? How can Rob Bell, a man, say with any authority that Scripture is irrelevant simply because it was written down 2,000 years ago? Doesn't that make God irrelevant as well? This is so dangerous, and it's a perfect example of redefining love on our terms instead of God's. When we look at love through man's eyes, this is what we get - blind acceptance of whatever makes us feel good at the moment without any foresight into future consequences. 

When we look at love through God's eyes, we see things differently. What does God have to say about love? Look at John 3:16-21:

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." 

Believe it or not, the Bible also warns us about men like Rob Bell. 2 Peter 2:17-20 says:

17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.

19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

That doesn't sound like an irrelevant 2,000 year old letter to me! It sounds like it perfectly fits this situation. Maybe Rob Bell shouldn't be our spiritual advisor. Maybe we need to trust the one who gives life and REAL love to us. The One who loved us enough that he put his Son on the cross to save each and every one of us. I want nothing to do with Rob Bell's skewed vision of love. I'm choosing to trust God and his everlasting Word for my life. Who do you choose?  

What is Love?

February in America is all about love - everywhere you look you see hearts, chocolate, romantic cards, and Valentine's Day specials. As a society, we're quite comfortable with the idea of romantic love. We read books about it, watch our favorite chick flicks, and enjoy the feeling that being in love brings us. But our version of love doesn't even scratch the surface of true love. In Chapter 9 of "Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman: Learning to Lose the Intimidation," I talk about what God's love is and what it means to us. 

When we love as humans, it usually comes with conditions of some sort. Unfortunately, in our society today it means that we love until it becomes hard. When things get hard, we give up and start looking for our next "Mr. Right Now" instead of working things out with the mate we pledged ourselves to before God. Do you ever wonder how your life would be if God loved you this way? What if he loved you until you messed up and then cut you loose when you failed? 

We're so blessed that God's love is completely different from ours. One of the passages I use in the book is Psalm 103, and it sheds some light on what God's love looks like for us. Look at what David says about it in verses 11 and 12: "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (NIV) God's love is bigger than we can even imagine which should give us comfort when we need it. Even if your friends and family turn away from you, God's love is there for those who fear him.

What can we take away from this as we go about our lives? Live your life for God, love him with all that you are, and he will pour his love out on you in ways you can not even think of. Let him show you just how great his love is for those who fear him. 

As you walk through the stores this month, don't buy into society's cheap version of love. I'm not saying that we shouldn't celebrate love this month - we absolutely need to celebrate, and if you're married this is a great time to show appreciation to your spouse. But don't stop with buying flowers or chocolates or going to a nice dinner; concentrate on loving him or her as God would have you love. Make God a priority in your relationship - pray together, study together, go to church together. See how your relationship grows stronger with God at its center.  

Here's What's Coming

My blog posts this year are going to follow a pattern. This should help me post more consistently, and it will help me focus my thoughts each week. As I explained in my first post, I published a ladies' Bible study in December 2014. This year's posts will explore some of the concepts from the book and provide you with additional insights. 
Here's how each month will look:
Week 1 - Lessons from Proverbs 31 - either an expansion on one of the book's chapters or an exploration of a theme presented in the book. 
Week 2 - Bible Insights - ideas and thoughts about passages of Scripture, doctrine, or theology. 
Week 3 - Challenge Check-Ups - either an expansion on the Challenge portion of the book or updates on challenges issued from my blog posts. 
Week 4 - Spiritual Cross fit - ideas, strategies, and lessons to help aid in spiritual growth. 
Week 5 - Extra Thoughts - posts that deal with time-specific topics: holidays, etc. There won't be many of these since most months only have four weeks. 

Posts that follow this format will start in February. I look forward to exploring and learning with you this year! 

Welcome to my new blog

I'm so happy to start a new blog for my readers. Unlike Mommy's Answers, this blog will serve a wider audience. My goal is to help Christian women as they grow in relationship with Christ. Bible study is one of my passions, and I published my first study for women titled, "Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman:Learning to Lose the Intimidation," in December of 2014. In the study I examine the characteristics that make the Proverbs 31 Woman who she is, and I share Biblical support to help women today obtain those same characteristics in their lives. 

This year I will be exploring lessons from the book with you, but don't worry, I'm not going to regurgitate the book back to you. We'll be looking at the concepts from the book in a different and new way. 

Next week's blog will explain my overall plan for the year. You will receive a post from me each week that will help you strengthen your relationship with Christ and understand the Bible better. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you'll get yourself a copy of the study from Amazon.com and work through the lessons. It's a good, meaty study that will help you mature.