The Godly Woman's Journey: Illumination

Memory/Meditation Verse: "Rise up and shine, for your light has come. The shining-greatness of the Lord has risen upon you. ² For see, darkness will cover the earth. Much darkness will cover the people. But the Lord will rise upon you, and His shining-greatness will be seen upon you". ~ Isaiah 60: 1-2 (NLV)

Words come to me and just hang in my thoughts and heart. It may be from a sermon, a conversation, a song. Last week I heard the word illuminate used from a preacher on the radio. He was referencing God's illumination into our life, our thoughts, our heart, allowing us to see and hear Him. I made it a prayer for my quiet times.

The word still stick. So I am nudged by the Holy Spirit to bring it into this journey.

Having God's illumination in our life makes us grow spiritually strong. In this growth we then begin to illuminate His glory. That became my unsettlement...the presence of a word to stir my heart and my living. A realization that I am being called to illuminate His glory.

Encarta defines illuminate (il·lu·mi·nate) as to "shine light on somebody or something: to make somebody or something visible or bright with light, or be lit up decorate something with lights: to decorate something with lights for a celebration clarify something: to make something easier to understand".

Spiritual illumination. It recorded through the scripture...

God's Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies,
laid out the earth and all that grows from it,
Who breathes life into earth's people,
makes them alive with his own life:
"I am God. I have called you to live right and well.
I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.
I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:
opening blind eyes,
releasing prisoners from dungeons,
emptying the dark prisons". ~ Isaiah 42: 5-7 (HCSB)

Living from the inside our, radiating the Lord in our life. The godly woman says "YES! Lord, I want to shine on this world, to make you visible and bright in and though my life...to help others better understand your Word and their need of you in their life! Help me illuminate your glory".

Being a light with eternal significance, a light that serve the purpose of our work here on earth for our Creator....

Remember, our message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!~ 2 Cor. 4: 5-12

Messengers illuminating the story of Jesus....

"No one lights a lamp, then hides it in a drawer. It's put on a lamp stand so those entering the room have light to see where they're going. Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning, so you don't get musty and murky. Keep your life as well-lighted as your best-lighted room."
~ Luke 11:33-36

Your eye is a lamp lighting up your whole body...what does your eyes see each day? What substance do you take in to fill your heart in mind? Our vision, our sight feeds into our heart and mind be it good or bad. And though our eyes, our soul can be reflected out.

If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light...do you live in amazement of what our God has done? Of what He is? Of His creation? Of His love? Daily? If we did how would we not illuminate Him?

I was reminded of a picture I took late one night driving home from visiting a patient. The night was dark, not a single star visible in the sky. The road was so long, so incredibly deserted. My headlights illuminated the path I was to take. While the world around me was sleeping, lights dimmed by the late hour and the bodies need for rest, my headlights pierced the darkness.

This picture reflects just how much we can spiritually illuminate this cold dark world. God made the desire of my heart to live a life that would spiritually pierce the darkness of this world. Not in a way to glorify my own journey of restoration and spiritual awakening but to pierce this dark world with the light of His glory, His work in and through my mistakes, my losses and pains. Piercing the dark world with a spiritual illumination that they might know Who they need to fill their life, ease their suffering, satisfy their hunger, heal their pain.

¹ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!

²For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you [sweet sister in Christ], and His glory shall be seen on you.

³And [lost souls] shall come to your light, and [broken Christians] to the brightness of your rising.
~ Isaiah 60 (Amplified, personalized)

Spiritual illumination. A godly woman's journey to completeness in Christ. A godly woman's purpose.

Are you illuminating Jesus today?

Father God, Holy and Sovereign Lord, help us to illuminate your goodness in and through our lives. Radiate your love, your healing, your grace and mercy through our living. Be reflective in our actions, our thoughts, our brokenness. May your presence in our life be a sweet aroma that draws others to you. Use us to be glorified in this cold, dark world. We love you Jesus. We are but your vessel...use us.

Living in His Embrace~Pamela

The Godly Woman's Journey: Spiritual Vibrancy

Memory/Meditation Verse: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ~ Proverbs 30:8 (NIV)

This "Proverbs 31 Journey" which modernized into the "Godly Woman's Journey" has taken me on a different path than I thought it would in the beginning of this year. I felt such a burden to better myself as a wife, mother and friend and knew I needed to be a whole lot more of the Proverbs 31 Woman. My focal verse was:

"...sent to strengthen [my husband and children], to encourage [them] in [their] faith, and to keep [them] from being shaken by the troubles [they] will go through. ~ 1 Thes 3:2&3 (personalized)

This study however has lead the calling of my heart into a different path of sorts. God layed this study on my heart because He needed me to make a change in my heart, one that I didn't realize that I needed at the time. As I studied this legend of a lady, determined to get to know her better, to become her, I quickly learned that in order to be the Proverbs 31 Woman to my family and others I first had to love and worship our God more fully, more intimately.

Worship God more. I thought I was doing a good job. I was cherishing the intimacy I had experienced but conviction fell on me that I wasn't doing enough. There was more, a deeper intimacy that I needed, that He wanted to share with me.

No matter how much time I spend doing, studying, praying, and attending church, there is more. I have became so incredibly convicted that maybe I have been living my religion more than worshiping Him. God is calling me to live in a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him. The the rest would fall into place...so to speak (we know how interruptions from the enemy can even make that a challenge).

Living ones religion. For too many denominations, that's what it is about. Sad to say, one can have religion and not have a relationship, a true intimate relationship, with God. One can be spiritual in action and not spiritually and intimately connected to God. One can be active in the church but not active in their personal walk with God. I have seen it. I have come to realize that at times I have lived it.

Now don't get your defenses up. I think we are inclined to do that when it comes to this topic. Having lived every day of my life with a Christian foundation from my parents, I too like others lived the way of the church. Not saying that is bad-in fact, I am more blessed because of the foundational work that has been given to me. But, as I have grown spiritually, and failed spiritually, I am coming to learn this spiritualism is so much more...so much more.

Church is a fundamental component of a Christians life but not to be the only fundamental part. A church is built and governed by man with the underlying principles of scriptures, right? We hope so. However, as with any other structure managed by man, it can fall apart, it can hurt and even destroy lives. Too often it is the people within the church that most often turns those of the world away from coming to seek and know our God. It is a painful reality that needs a good hard reckoning with.

The church. Religion. A practicing of ones faith. Does it necessarily make one religious? Does it guarantee an intimate relationship with our Creator? Is it always a safe place to go?

This is what this years journey has lead me to and awaken my senses to. A religion does not make us spiritually strong. A religion is not what God is asking of us. A religion can leave us empty.

Shamefully and too often I have been busy about the doing for God that I have missed God himself. All the good work "in His name" has not necessarily filled my soul. And in that I have failed to be the salt and light of His amazing love in this world. I have missed the joy of spiritual vibrancy, the completeness in life that can only come from Him.

" The presence of God--not how well we can perform duties of religion--is what creates within us a spiritual vibrancy....vibrancy--life within our soul--is the effective work of Jesus." ~ Lisa Whittle, {W}hole

The Life within my soul. Not how well I did a job or the recognition I inwardly hoped for but emptiness made full with His presence. Life reflected from my my Soul, spiritual vibrancy, for reflecting His work in and through me. The amazing work of Him in my life cannot be ignore and I am so convicted in the urgency to share that healing, that gift with the empty souls of this world.

The Light I am to reflect. The radiance of His healing, grace, and love I have come to cherish and live by. We must be careful that we are not being an object that blocks His radiance, but instead, we become an object of faith that reflects and radiates Him.

If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—firm muscles, strong bones. You'll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again. ~ Isaiah 58: 10-12 (Message)

Suddenly this year I am feeling a calling, an urgency to reach out to those who desperately need Jesus...people who have known Him and fallen away, and people who have never experienced a vibrant relationship with Him.

Suddenly my heart aches, not to be active in a church ministry within four walls, but to be active in displaying His presence in my life so much so that those outside those church walls are compelled to seek Him.

My heart no longer desires restoration to the point of being worthy of serving again in ministry within those four walls, but instead I feel a desperation to tell others how my fall, my brokenness, my pit experiences have instead brought life and healing and intimacy with the only One who can restore. My empty places are full...full of Him. Re-dedication and re-dedication means nothing without a heart that is steadfast on Him, vibrant for Him.

"The presence of God in our life will produce a thriving spiritual existence that nothing else can generate--creating a genuine passion and concern for those things that once did not compel us." ~ Lisa Whittle, {W}hole

Commitment and dedication is a result of a heart that is focused on God. In a spiraling affect, our doing and our motivation is a reaction of that heart. When one can pray our memory verse above and live it out, they can better experience the spiritual vibrancy we were created for...kingdom work.

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ~ Proverbs 30:8 (NIV)

In other words, don't allow anything in my life that will block me from you Lord. Not the wardrobe in our closet or the house we call home, not the dollar amount our bank account holds or the status we earn in our careers or ministries...what will truly matter is what we do for Jesus. What are we doing to support His kingdom? What are we doing to draw others to seek Him?

Does our spiritual vibrancy drawn the lost Christians and lost souls to you? Does your life story make them take notice of God? Are they curious to your fullness of joy?

"Where there is spiritual blandness, we are to provide savor. Where there is spiritual darkness, we are to provide illumination. We are to draw people to Jesus by our loud display of His abundant love. " ~ Lisa Whittle, {W}hole

Spiritual vibrancy begins with sacrifice. Sacrifices of anything that might get in the way of you and God. Are you brave enough to ask God to allow only those things in your life that are necessary? Can you mustard up the strength to ask God to limit anything that might distract you from Him and from displaying Him to others? Daily manna, daily bread...only what you need.

"...Focusing on anything other than God is to abandon Him." ~ Nancy Douglas, Draw Me Near: Pursuing an intimate relationship with God.

God has boldly asked me to step outside of religions four walls and to step into His presence within this world. Oh, I still attend a worship service and value it. But it is no longer a matter of what I gain from the service or how many ministries I can be involved in. Too often that was my main concern. Shifting gears, I am challenged in my intimacy with God. And in that, how can I serve others? How I can mirror His reflection and cause others to be drawn to Him because of what they see of Him in my life.

For my determined purpose is that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers, and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness even to His death, in the hope that if possible I may attain to the spiritual and moral resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead even while in the body.~Philippians 3:10-11, Amplified

Spiritual vibrancy. A reflection of Jesus in our life. We should not be attached to a denomination but rather attached to God. We were not created to be labeled by the our religion or our ministry, but we should be label by His grace and redemption as reflected by our my hearts actions. We are closer to being the Proverbs 31 Woman when we are His maidservant, craving more and more of Him, filled and overflowing. So much of Him that is spills over into another's life. Spiritual vibrancy.

My Holy and Sovereign God, you are my everything. Nothing else matters as much as you. Continue to fill me Lord. I am so thankful that you have filled my holes, my emptiness. You complete me. Keep away anything that will block me from your radiance. Continue to fill me so much that you spill over into the lives of those lost and without you. Grow this urgency I feel in my heart. Use me for your kingdom growth. I am so grateful for all that my life story represents and the healing that is too good not to share. Your presence in my life is my daily manna, my daily bread. I am clinging to you, my Shepherd.

For a beautiful song that reflects this message go here.

Living in His Embrace~ Pamela

The Godly Woman's Journey: Desperate

Memory/Meditation verse: "[She] wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in [her] way..." ~ Luke 19:3 (Message)

I left church last night speechless. My whole week has been like this. God's presence has been so near since I became "undone" (read about it here). I am unworthy of such an embrace from my Father but it has been so good...so very good.

Its like falling in love for the first time. My heart for no other reason than God Himself will leaped and a smile will come to my face. I feel such joy, such comfort like the soothing sensation of a warm drink on a sore throat.

Even though my week at work has been busy and has tried to squeeze more hours out of me than it should, I have felt His presence. The enemy has thrown in a few tensions here and there but I have truly been living in His embrace.

My quiet times and readings have all connected. So too last nights message and praise songs at church. I love how God does that and it leaves me wanting and yearning for more. It leaves me feeling desperate. Desperate for more of Him.

Just like Zacchaeus...

Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn't see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by. ~ Luke 19:1-4

"He wanted desperately to see Jesus"-mirroring that desire in the heart reflects a godly woman. She yearns for more of God. She cannot spend enough time searching for Him in her quiet times, in her prayers, in her worship. This boldly characterizes her as a Jesus girl, stamps her as a Proverbs 31 Woman.

He is her manna, the primary source of her daily nutrients for her body, mind and soul. She is careful not to take in too much of "other things" from her plate so that there is more room for Him.

But like Zacchaeus, "but the crowd was in his way" things get in the way...commitments, people, hobbies, TV, books, addictions...

Our pastor gave the analogy of a meal. A meal is meant to be enjoyed, to provide nutrients, to fill. But if we take in too many others things right before a meal we find that we are already filled up and when it is time to sit at the table to enjoy the meal, we have no room for it, no desire for its blessing.

This too can happen in our spiritual life. If we soak up too much time in work, in TV, in our hobby...we become stuffed. Then when we sit down in our quiet time...in our secret place with God we have no room left for all that He has to offer us.

But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6

Our pastor spoke about the Jewish tradition of the prayer shawl and how it reflects the tent at the tabernacle in which they would enter to pray to God. This tent, being a holy place, is a secret place to which one could hear from God. The Jewish crowds could not all fit into the tent of the tabernacle so they would cover their heads with their prayer shawls, creating a tent, a secret place in which they could talk to God and await His voice.

I thought about my own quiet times I have each morning with God. I challenge you to think of your own quiet times. Do we enter it as holy? Do we imagine being in His tent, His secret place? Do we pray and meditate on His word so that we may hear His still small voice or do we rush on to our next task?

Do we leave our secret place feeling full but desperately wanting more of Him?

The secret counsel of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He reveals His covenant to them. ~ Psalm 25:14

Desperate for more of His embrace...

I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches from secret places, so that you may know that I, the LORD, the God of Israel call you by your name. ~ Isaiah 45:3

Desperate to hear His voice...

A word was brought to me in secret; my ears caught a whisper of it. ~ Job 4:12

Desperate and never satisfied in a good way, a committed way, a holy way.

Desperate for more of Jesus. Desperate to see Jesus in Her day. Desperate to mirror Him in her life. Desperate to not allow anything else to get in her way of finding intimacy with her God.

Jesus, Holy and Sovereign God, You are my hearts desire. You complete me. I desperately want to see you, to feel your presence, and to hear your voice. Block out anything that tries to fill my life where you should be. Be my manna, my daily bread. Fill me.

Living in His Embrace ~ Pamela

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