Friday, July 24, 2009

On Being a Mighty Warrior

One of the things my pastor said the other night was that women are to be The Mighty Warriors for the kingdom. Our family is under attack by the enemy and we need to stand with our husbands - as a helpmeet - to guard and protect our families. He said the Proverbs 31 wife is a powerful ally.

Suddenly, I know how Gideon felt.
What? Me? Really? A Mighty Warrior? To do battle against satan and his minions? I can't even get my son to pick up his socks off the floor.
Being a Mighty Warrior is easy to do if the husband is walking with the Lord. But, what if my husband is not standing with me? What if he's in his recliner, watching television? Yes, Lord, this Proverbs 31 wife-wannabe is waiting for her husband to be a Psalm 1 man.
Oh, I long for my husband to walk with the Lord so he can be the spiritual leader of our family. Right now, I am carrying that mantle and it is hard. It is a daunting task. The thought of being responsible for the spiritual growth and eternal destinies of my children (AND their children) scares me. What if I mess up? (In fact, thinking back to the events of this past week alone, I know I have messed up.)
Lord, please help me not to be afraid to stand up for you - to be Your Mighty Warrior, whether my husband comes alongside me or not. Help me to start in my world - where you have me right now. Amidst the mess, the laundry, the cooking, the grocery shopping, the cleaning, the budgeting, the being unappreciated, the repetitiveness and the mundane. Help me to see You and to remember that I have a mission from the King. And no mission is too small for Your kingdom.

Help me, please. I need You.

Fill me with Your spirit. Help me to shine here. And in turn, have my boys catch the light and may they also glisten, no, not just glisten, may they impact their own worlds like fireworks on the 4th of July. I want them to be on fire for You!

You know my weaknesses. You know the state of my vessel, Lord. Broken spirit, weak vascillating, emotional, temperamental and impatient. But what I have learned from this and the other conferences you have brought me to is that perfection is not mandatory - nor expected. You just want a willing heart. That - I have. And that is all I can offer You.

Thank you, Heavenly Father.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Mind Boggling

God sure works in mysterious ways.

This afternoon I stopped by the library to drop off the book my younger son borrowed. On the way out, I stopped by the books for sale section. To my amazement, amidst the romance novels and outdated computer books were these two: The Fall Feasts of Israel and The New Strong's Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. (Okay I also found Personality Plus by Florence Littauer which I bought from Amazon last week. It's an old book. What are the odds? There it was on sale for fifty cents. Had I waited, I could have saved money...but that is another post.)

Anyway, on a normal day I would have bypassed those books. But today it was serendipitous that I found them because Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries came to our church tonight. This is his second visit. The first was in June 2008. He said that every time an eclipse falls on a feast day of Israel, something big happens.

Oh, boy, was he was right!

September 29, 2008 was the Feast of Trumpets. What happened that day? Our stock market went down 777.7 points which was a 7% change and then came the $700 billion bailout. All the 7's! Our pastor said it is like God is sending us a message that He is in control, we are to rely on him alone and not our investments.

Today there was a solar eclipse seen throughout Asia. Today also happens to be a feast day of Israel. The 1st of Av. I wonder what is going to happen in the fall?

The new dictionary came in handy. I was surprised to find that not only was it a regular bible dictionary but it also had Hebrew and Greek translations. So when Pastor Mark was saying the Hebrew words I was able to look them up. He said a lot of things that I cannot even process. There was so much information and revelation that my head might just explode. In the coming days, I will try to write about what I learned and sort it all out. I cannot do justice to it in one sitting. We really cannot comprehend the mind of God.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8

Bottom line: We are to be ready but we need NOT be afraid. God is in control.

Thank you, Jesus!