Women of Strength Blog

“For I know the plans I have for you,”declares the Lord,”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I WILL LISTEN TO YOU. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you,”declares the Lord,”and bring you back from captivity.” Jeremiah 29:11-14

People are going through so much pain. People in Japan, friends, loved ones, young fathers or mothers ending their lives…no hope. The enemy has come to cause pain,destruction and death. But, we do have hope in the Lords word. Jeremiah says He plans to give us hope and a future. We must stand strong on His living word. You are not alone…YOU are not alone.

We are all encouraged by a leader who stirs us to move ahead, someone who believes we can do the task he has given and who will be with us all the way.  God is that kind of leader. He knows the future, and his plans for us are good and full of hope. As long as God, who knows the future, provides our agenda and goes with us as we fulfill his mission, we can have boundless hope. This does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering, or hardship, but that God will see us through to a glorious conclusion. And after all, isn’t that what we all want…a glorious conclusion? That’s what I want! Stand Strong my sister!

“Perseverance” is the biblical term used to describe Christians who faithfully endure and remain steadfast in the face of opposition, attack, and discouragement. Those who focus on Jesus can bear up under any load. Perseverance involves patience-the ability to endure without complaint and with calmness.

It’s so amazing being a child of a Lord who gives us the ability to be able to have perseverance threw hard times! I don’t know what I would do without the Lord in my heart and Him being the center of my life! Threw the stressfulness that life throws at me I can always have calmness knowing that God is in control of everything and that he is my creator and my comforter! And that everything the devil meant for evil God turned it around for good!

In this time, where we are getting closer to Jesus returning, it’s so crucial that we are pressed in His word and in prayer so we can be prepared for trials and tribulations that come our way. Otherwise we will get trapped in anxiousness and fear that a world with no hope tends to throw at us!

The promise is that those who endure and persevere in overcoming evil will be greatly rewarded with God’s blessings both now and in eternity.

Matthew 24:13 “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

Women of Strength would like to come together with all of you to pray for the people in Japan who have suffered this devastating disaster! We  pray healing and safety for the families that were exposed to radiation and were injured in the earthquake and we also pray peace and comfort for the families that have lost loved ones or that have loved ones missing! In Jesus name, Amen!

“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Luke 16:13 (NIV)

Sorry the font is so small. I don’t know how to change it.

So, being that our economy is what it is…this should be easy to do…right? It seems as though all of us are struggling financially. If that’s the case, it should be easier to just serve God. When I read this, it freed me. I realized that I can’t control money coming in (or lack there of), but, I can control my service to God…serving God. Yep, I hate money…I love God. Or…I am devoted to God, I despise money. After all, God is in control, not money.

Money has the power to take God’s place in your life. It can become your master. How can you tell if you are a slave to Money? (1) Do you think and worry about it frequently? (2) Do you give up doing what you should do or would like to do in order to make more money? (3) Do you spend a great deal of your time caring for your possessions? (4) Is it hard for you to give money away? (5) Are you in debt?  – Trust me, I’ve asked myself all of these questions, and I’ve not been entirely happy with some of my answers.  I want to be completely out of debt. I want to give more. I thought some of you might relate to how I’m feeling. So, if you’re feeling uncomfortable about some of these questions…it could be a God thing.

Money is a hard master and a deceptive one. Wealth promises power and control, but often it cannot deliver. Great fortunes can be made, and lost,  overnight, and no amount of money can provide health, happiness, or eternal life. How much better it is to let God be your Master. His servants have peace of mind and security, both now and forever.  – I really do love you sister! – Ann

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”        1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

It’s easy to show love when we feel good towards a person. But when we feel bad…someone has hurt us or is not showing love towards us, we have trouble showing them love. (most of us anyway). 

Our society confuses love and lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is possible to practice this love only if God helps us set aside our own desires and instincts, so that we can give love while expecting nothing in return.  The more we become like Christ, the more love we will show to others.

With Valentines day, we tend to think of our romantic loves. I want to encourage us all to think beyond romance. Definitly include it. But, let’s go all the way and love others the way Jesus loves us. And if we mess up, let’s repent with no excuses.

Interesting info about Valentines Day. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. The date of his death was February 14th.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

So last night we were having a major blizzard going on! High winds, alot of snow! Our driveway was the same height as our lawn! I was so excited of the thought of being snowed in! My husband, who’s the rational person, said ” Honey, If I don’t start shoveling this we will never get out of here tomorrow”! HELLO! Isn’t that the point! I know, so unpratical, but a girl can dream! You see, I was really liking the thought of not being able to go anywhere and just having those extra couple hours to spend time with Mark and maybe just rest in his arms in the morning! MMMM, just sounded so fun! Well, of course Mark pushed threw and shoveled the whole driveway last night….oh well, like I said, a  girl can dream!

God really started speaking to me while I was thinking about what had happened and being a little bummed out! He spoke clear as rain, “Lindsi, don’t you see that I want you to feel the same way about me”! OUCH! Lord, you are an amazing God and I want to be snowed in with you! God wants us to desire Him the same way we might desire to be with maybe our SPOUSES, or FRIENDS, or even MATERIALISTIC things!

It says in Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So when things happen or we have dreams to be snowed in! Remember that God wants that as well, meaning He wants us to desire Him!

Have a great week ladies and If you get snowed in seek first God!

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

I posted a video to go with this on the Women of Strength facebook page, it was to big to add to the blog!

Passage in NKJV Women’s Study Bible: When Jesus came to visit, Mary and Martha started using their gifts of service. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, loving and being loved by Him. Martha, a practical “doer,” started preparing food and a place to rest. However, Martha looked away from her goal of serving Christ and began to evaluate Mary’s performance. Both women were serving in meaningful ways. The problem came when Martha, in her anxiety, overlooked the fact that she and her sister were both on the same team and began to sit in judgement of her sister(Luke 10:41,42)

Competition is in the sense of a common struggle for the same objective can be a healthy thing. It can inspire us to study harder and run faster. To be challenged and pushed to reach a goal is not wrong in itself . However, when sin starts to edge its way into the competition, the goal of personal achievement is distorted into an obsession to “show up” someone else. Such competition can move our eyes from focus on the intended goal and instead make us dwell on comparing ourselves to one another. This makes competition wrong (2 Cor. 10:12)

We live in a world where competition is a huge problem, especially with us women! God has made us the way we are for a reason! If you have a friend that’s say OUTGOING/OUTSPOKEN, CONSTANTLY HAPPY, THE LIFE OF THE PARTY, ECT. and say your the THINK BEFORE YOU TALK PERSON, HAPPY BUT MORE MELLOW/ENJOY LIFE AS IT COMES PERSONALITY, ENJOYS JUST BEING ON YOUR OWN, ECT. Don’t fell bad about it! We are all manufactured differently and we handle things differently than someone else would. We can’t live our lives trying to compete with our friends or maybe acquaintances or we lose the focus on life and how we are suppose to live it! Lets let us be us and let your friends be them. And be confident in Christ that He made you exactly how you are and He is so proud of the woman you’ve become! I mean I’m always open for God to change me everyday to His will and purpose! But I don’t want to change what God is doing with me and become someone else that God has not intended for me to be!

1 Corinthians 12:27-31 Tells us that we are all different parts that make up the body of Christ and that we are supposed to be different so we can accomplish God’s work. If we were all the same we wouldn’t be able to accomplish the work that God has called us to do as a body. We are supposed to be different but working together.

The greatest command is that we love one another!

‎”He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31 (NIV)

I’ve been making a point to not just smile more at everyone I see, but to say 2 simple words…”good morning” (afternoon/evening works too) along with that smile. I’m not doing it to get a response. I’m doing it because I love Jesus.  I was thinking as I was driving home from the gym how busy we all are. We are all, at times, distracted by our finances our worries and our fears. We forget that we can choose to smile and break the silence of passing a stranger with a voice of hope that could change that strangers day. God knows our struggles and he deeply cares. But He wants us to show a hurting world that has no hope His face through our actions. As long as we are on this side of Heaven there is always going to be a reason not to smile, to crawl our streets like a slug. Because we know Him as our savior, we can have hope, joy and peace. I want the wings of an eagle…strong, soaring over my woes, not being crushed underneath them. I know you want that too.  “…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” This is a promise! If you have hope in the Lord, he WILL renew your strength…and you can smile. Maybe even say “good morning” to a stranger.

Hoping in the Lord is expecting that his promise of strength will help us to rise above life’s distractions and difficulties. His strength is our source of strength. When you feel all of life crushing you and cannot go another step, remember that you can call upon God to renew your strength.

Have a blessed week! (and smile)

It’s almost here! I can’t believe this year has gone by so fast! When we look back on this last year, how does it look? Are there things we greatly accomplished? Are there things we wish never happened? Are there things with us personally that we want to change or grow in? My husband and I sat down and wrote down goals we have for 2011. As you read this take a moment to answer these questions above in your head and maybe write your goals for 2011 down.

As I look back on 2010 I battled with anxiety more than ever, to the point where it affected me physically which made me more anxious. I kept feeling like I was sick or that I needed to go to the hospital, even though I was checked out by my doctor “that everything is fine”. Finally after 6 months of going threw that and having to everyday surrender it to the Lord, God set my mind free.

1 Peter 5:7 “Cast your anxiety on Him cause He cares for you”. (Psalm 55:22)

I also would constantly try and save people If they were in need or couldn’t do it on their own. Then when I couldn’t help or save them I felt like I failed them and myself.

The thing is, I can’t save anyone, I can pray for those people in my life  and certain situations that come up but we have to be able to surrender all of it to God, Even If it’s our own personal issues we are battling with.

It says in NKJV 1 Peter 5:8 Be Sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

He will try and do this with our emotional feelings, which for me it was anxiety. I opened the bible and really tested myself  using FAITH. Faith is based in God’s word, Not Feelings.

*God’s word is truer than anything we feel.

*God’s word is truer than anything we experience.

* God’s word is truer than any circumstance we will ever face.

God says of His Word, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away (Matt. 24:35) and, The word of the Lord stands forever (1 Peter 1:25)

I want to encourage you as my sister in Christ, to be prepared for 2011 and don’t let the enemy have victory over your emotions! And to get stored up with God’s word cause that’s where our Faith starts is in the Living Word! And remember, you can be there for the people you care about in your life and pray for them, but you/we  have to step out of God’s way and let Him do a work in that person’s life that He’s got planned. Have Divine Perspective in your life!

Question of the Week: We would love to hear what your goals for 2o11 might be and anything you have to say that might be an inspiration to other women preparing for 2011!

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”” – Luke 2:11-14

 ‎”Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 (NIV)

I honestly do not know how people make it without Jesus.  So many hurting people. And in our life time, we will hurt. But, I am so grateful to know that I can cast my cares, all of them, on Him…for He cares for me. When Jesus said that his yoke is easy, his burdon is lite, he meant it! It drives me nuts when I take so long to give Him my cares, my hurts, my burdons. But the minute…the second, I lay it ALL down at the foot of the cross, I feel peace. I suppose that’s the battle we have with our flesh. We think we can “handle it”. But Jesus wants us to trust in him. To have faith in him and in His word. During this crazy time of the year, I want to encourage you (and me) to keep our eyes on Him. With all the bad news we read, it’s hard. It is possible though. I pray that the Holy Spirit will remind us, and that we will listen, to give our cares to him. I choose to have FAITH in Jesus. He said it will develop my perseverance. Whatever lies ahead, I will persevere. You can too. No matter how we feel, we can still choose to have faith.