The Godly Woman's Journey: Undone

Memory/Meditation Verse: "You shall walk after the Lord your God and [reverently] fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and cling to Him." ~ Deut 13:4 (Amplified)

At church this weekend we sang a praise song that got my attention. I was not familiar with this song. Even so, the words resonate still today..."here in your presence, I am undone".

Here is the song for you to listen to on YouTube: Here in Your Presence.

Undone. What does that mean? One definition referred to "incomplete. brought to ruin: ruined, destroyed, or brought to the brink of collapse" (Bing.com). Another defined this word as "not fastened or tied or secured"(freedictionary.com).

Undone.

It can have negative inclinations....

God had a hedge of protection around Job yet tested him and his faith by removing that hedge. Job was undone.

Now that God has undone me and left me in a heap, they hold nothing back. Anything goes. ~ Job 30: 11 (Message)

But it can also be inclined for the positive. I believe this word describes the godly woman's journey...I believe this word references where I want to be...undone...a fitting description of life lived following Christ, not finished, taken apart, humbly submitted, wholeheartedly committed.

Undone.

A release of selfish desires and ambitions. A heart that desires to do His will so much so that the focus is more on God than the actual doing of His work. No hidden agendas. No trying to prove your spiritual worth or commitment.

"Although it is vital we seek to do God's will, we must never let our desire to do His will override our focus on Him." ~ Nancy Douglas, Draw Me Near: Pursuing an intimate relationship with God.

Undone.

Choosing to follow God during periods of what I call respite and embracing it. Drawing closer to Him. Serving and worshiping Him. Intimately allowing God to become the Lover of your soul.

"I had to trust Him with His plan for my life even if it meant doing what seemed like nothing. As God would have it, learning to submit to a life of isolation, gave way to new surrender. He knew my willingness to do his will had to override any plans of my own. Isolation was His method of teaching me that doing what seemed to be nothing for Him was far superior to doing a thousand good things that are not in His will. ~ Nancy Douglas, Draw Me Near: Pursuing an intimate relationship with God.

Undone.

Walking after the Lord your God. Reverently fearing Him. Keeping His commandments and obeying His voice. Serving Him and clinging to Him. Worshiping Him. Loving Him.



Undone ~ Pamela

The Godly Woman's Journey: {W}hole

Memory/Meditation Verse: " For this reason I raised you up: so that I may display My power in you, and that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth." ~ Rom 9:17 (HCSB)


There is a restlessness in me I can't quite explain. An unsettling. An urgency. I know it is from God...but the uncertainty of it paralyzes me sometimes. Some days it is an outright battle...me against "it". Or is it a battle between God and satan for my life?

The mountain peaks of my spiritual walk run too closely with the valleys. Do you know what I mean? Do you have those weeks where God's Word graces your life with messages of hope and strength and then within one night...even one hour, change occurs and God seems so silent, so distant.

I truly believe the valleys are of my own doing. I lose my grip or my foot slips because I allow something into my heart or my mind that is not from God but of my own selfishness. I am left with "holes" in my life...emptiness, lack of self-worth, disgrace and rejection. But no matter how hard I fall, I can still say I hunger and thirst for a deeper relationship with my God. This in turn feeds deeper into my restlessness.

Then I picked up this book and though I am only a couple of pages into it I read...

"My story: my life...my journey...the things I'd seen and done in my life. My holes: the things that had come as a result, limiting and defining me. Holes in my religion, roles, and experiences had kept me from many things: effectiveness, peace, fulfilling my created purpose." ~ {W}hole, Lisa Whittle, pp.3.
http://wholethebook.org

Holes. My past. My story. A plague of resentment and regret that I choose not to linger on. Then I come across our memory/meditation verse listed above from in this first chapter and I am reminded of God's work in and through me during those times. I am pulled up from the valley I have fallen into, the dust is wiped off my jeans and a strong hand reaches out to me and pulls me back up into His presence and I hear...

" For this reason, I allow you to stumble, to fall into the valley so that I can raise you up. It is in raising you up from yourself and your failures that I can bring you into My likeness. It is though the valleys that I may display My power in you. And by doing it this way, My name will be glorified through the healing I display in your life. No matter how ugly you have tried to make it, I want others to see Me in you and in all that you have been."

Satan wants me to dwell on the past itself and not on where my past has brought me with my God. There are many holes in my life, some holes created by my own actions, other holes created by the acts of others. Whatever the cause I have learned over the years the power of healing found through scripture and some of these holes are fully filled with God now. How easy we forget this when we are in the valley, be it for an hour or a week.

Picking up Lisa's book has soften the restlessness I have been experiencing. A refocusing of the past that has brought me to a {W}holeness I cherish. It has been in some of my worst times that God has been most real, most near to me. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

"I can find no greater purpose than to be used by God to tell that holes-to-wholeness story by proof of a changed life...God saved me from myself and I couldn't be more grateful." (pp. 41)

I want an authentic faith, an intimate relationship with God that allows me to live confidently for Him and not for myself. I want to be able to share His goodness to others through my valleys, my story, my holes that have drawn me closer to knowing and experiencing Him. I want to be a living, breathing representation of Christ.

"What seems a hindrance becomes a way" ~ Henri Nouwen (pp.1)

A godly woman bravely embraces her Master and chooses not to let go. Knowing and experiencing Him becomes her mission in life. I am grateful for the {W}holeness I have found for my holes.

Living in His Embrace ~ Pamela

The Godly Womans Journey: Her Cause

Memory/Meditation Verse: "To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy..."~ Jude1:24 (NIV)

A sermon lead me to this passage. My heart craved to linger on it, to dissect and draw from its words. I learned these words were recorded from the half-brother of Christ, Jude. In a single letter, Jude writes to believers warning them to protect themselves from false teachers and their sins. Instead he called them to focus on the their faith and relationship with God. And in doing this He also called them to minister to others with mercy and with a tender heart. Read the full letter here before we settle in on a few verses.

Can you imagine having personally receiving this letter? How many times would you have read it? Who would you share it with? Did anything stand out for you?

As I stated, a reference of this one verse (the memory/meditation verse above), found within this letter immediately captured my heart. This 24th verse confirmed a message, a repeated impression. This impression grows stronger each time I receive it. It is birthed again out of power found in a few words that I feel warrants the turning of a verse into a prayer.

What was the purpose of this particular verse? What was Jude's intent for this message? To find that out I believe we need to examine the verses before it, especially verses 20-23...

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. ~ Jude 24

Here is the spiritual take I found from this part of Jude's letter...
1. We are called to remain faithful to the impression God lays on our hearts.

But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: "In the last days there will be people who don't take these things seriously anymore. They'll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts." These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There's nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!
(The Message, verses 17-19)

There have been times I have been in a ministry or church that was more focused on the act of the ministry and not on the people it served. Outward appearance may not have reflected this. Intentions were well but in the end, the outcome was for personal glorification and growth, not eternal glorification and growth. We are called to remain faithful to the causes God places on our hearts.

2. What matter in the end is the eternity factor.

But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. (NLT, vs 20-21)

But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!(The Message, vs 20-21)

Through prayer and faith, there is strength power. There is security in God's love. Knowing that should allow the godly woman to heed God's calling on her life. If God has laid a cause on your life, the ability to complete the work can only be done by resting in His embrace, living in His mercy and loving as He loves. Acts of worship, living out your faith and seeking Him faithfully in prayer becomes your drive. As I heard a pastor say once, you are not just a fan of God but an active member of His team!

3. There is a ministry among the saved and the unsaved.

Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven. (The Message)

And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
(New Living Translation)

As I focused on this blog entries memory/meditation verse above I am compelled to turned it into a prayer to be use for God's plan with my life, the cause he has called me to-a ministry of helping those hungry for God...a ministry of helping others identify the void that is in their life can only be filled by HIM. Loving the sinner, hating the sin. And as Jude cations, protection from the sin comes from keeping focused on the creator of your vision, your cause.

4. God is the only source and power to carry us in our cause.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen. (NLT, vs 24)

The cause He gives us is about His Glory, His eternal plan. The cause is not about you. The godly woman knows this. It is not how much you are behind the growth and success of a ministry or cause and the godly woman accepts this. It is only about what God can do though you to build His eternal kingdom.



Often times the Holy Spirit will impress something on our hearts so much that we cannot escape it. Everywhere we turn, there it is...posted in another woman's blog, mentioned in a sermon, seen in a video on Facebook, caught though a song on the radio. An impression that leads you to your cause...a God-given, God-ordained drive.

So I ask you, what is your cause? What have you been called to? It often changes with the circumstances of our life. Sometimes pain and/or change can open such a window of opportunity which can only be seen when we are resting in God's love and mercy and grace. Embracing such "opportunities" requires one significant goal...an eternal goal..."to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy". Make this your prayer as you live out His cause for your life.

Living in His Embrace~Pamela

The Godly Womans Journey: God-Inspired Passions

Memory/Meditation verse: If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ~ Romans 14:8 (NLT)

Do you think the Proverbs 31 Woman ever felt barren? Not barren in the form of the absence of a child in her womb but barrenness in the form of not filling fulfilled, not being fruitful or productive? Do you think she ever lived frustrated? Scripture doesn't reflect this. If this Proverbs 31 Woman was just as she is portrayed by the words of her son, she would be too perfect in all she does...right?

She never experienced a wayward child, right? She never experienced a stale marriage? She never felt worn out in her trusting of God to turn the pain in her life away, right?

Wrong...wrong...wrong. I believe that she was not tripped up by the pain in her life. Why? Because she choose to imitate Christ in every chance that she had. She demonstrated this over and over to the point that godly attitude is what others saw in her as recorded in Proverbs 31.

She also may have understood that her battles were won by love delivered through service. She embraced each painful or unplanned situation as an appointment from God. She was able to find some of her greatest healing from giving of herself when she was in her greatest pain, at her lowest, or greatly frustrated. I'm betting this godly woman reflected the words of Paul here in 2 Corinthians:

¹⁰Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.

^11-13And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at it from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That's what happened—and we felt just great.~ 2 Cor 7: 10-11 (Message)

The godly woman does not allow the pain of her situation to wear her into the pit of withdrawal and discouragement but instead allows it to grow her heart closer to her God. Her heart grows with passion to resolve the outcome of her pain...be it her financial status, her troubled child, her failing marriage, her health...whatever the pain. She empties herself from what the pain holds by instead seeking to serve others and to mirror her Master, demonstrating obedience in the situation.

3 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. ⁴ Everyone should look out not [only] for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,⁶ who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. ⁷ Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, ⁸ He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross. ~ Phil 2 (HCSB)

In Bill Hybels book, The Power of a Whisper, he wrote "Today Lord, just say the word". In other words..."no matter what is ahead of me, I give you control Lord".

Today Lord, Just say the word.

One woman might say, "My child is on a destructive path. My heart is worried sick but today Lord, just say the word and I will be obedient and love her and those involved even more."

Today Lord, Just say the word.

Another woman may reflect "My marriage is falling apart...I am so sad and lonely and scared but today Lord, just say the word and I will be obedient and serve my family despite this pain."

Today Lord, Just say the word.

Another might say "This disease is more than I can handle but today Lord, just say the word and I will be obedient and give to others around me, putting them first over my own personal concerns."

If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ~ Romans 14:8 (NLT)

No matter what comes across the godly woman's path to put her into barrenness, she needs to hold on to the holy passion of her faith. Rather than being torn up, downcast and depressed over her hardship and pain, she treats the difficultly as a God appointed adventure that has eternal treasures. Turn the table to honor God, grasp His plan, love others, serve others, and keep trusting. Allow the pain to grow into a God-inspired passion.

God's holy people passionately and faithfully stand their ground.
~ Rev 13:9b (Message)

Be godly. Live obediently. God-inspired passions grow most profoundly after our worst times. Embrace it confident that God's glory can and will prevail. Love and serve others in your pain and watch the amazing work of God around you and through you.

Francis of Assisi stated "Preach the gospel to everyone you meet, and use words only if you must". Love passionately. Serve passionately.

Living in His Embrace, Pamela