Woman To Another.com - Where Women Meet » Truth

OUCH!!! Part 1 of 2

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:00:42 +0000

A while back, I wrote a post titled “Seeking and Speaking The True Word of God”. In this post, I talked about how it is important that we seek to hear the truth, and how it is important that we speak the truth…even if it hurts. How do we really act when we receive correction from God? Many times pride wants to reject the word and take it as criticism (Proverbs 16:2). Whether God corrects us directly, or indirectly through another person, it is important that we heed the words that are given to us (Proverbs 8:33).

I’m sure many of you remember being on the receiving end of your mother’s belt. If you remember the experience, you may also remember the words that followed those swats. “I’m doing this because I love you” As a child, you probably didn’t understand the concept of disciplining someone out of love. However, those lessons followed us all the way to adulthood. Some of us wouldn’t be the wonderful women we are today, had we not been instructed to “go get the switch ”. Proverbs 3:12 says “For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.” So, just as our parents disciplined us because they love us, God also disciplines us out of love. I believe God sometimes corrects us because He wants to bless us. He knows we won’t be able to handle the blessing in our present state. So, when He corrects us, if we obey, we will be able to get what He had in store for us.

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OUCH!!! Part 1 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Good Works Wrong Motives Part 2 of 2

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:00:37 +0000

It is possible to know our purpose in life and do it for the wrong reasons. Imagine working on something really hard for several years only for it to catch fire and burn to the ground soon after completion. Sounds like all of that work was a complete waste of time right? That’s what happens to our work done with wrong motives. 1Corinthians 3:13-15 talks about this. Verse 13 says that our works will be tested by fire. That fire will determine whether our works were of good intentions or not. Verse 14 goes on to say that works that endure this fire (works with good motives) will be rewarded. Verse 15 says if our works are burned we suffer loss. I don’t want to spend my entire life doing what God called me to do for the wrong reasons only for it to come to nothing in the end.

Asking ourselves why we’re doing something can be a hard question to ask. No one wants to see negativity within. But, if we walk around blind, how can we have victory? Know that a motive check is not a one time thing. This is something we must constantly stay on top of. Our motives can be pure one day with one endeavor and completely wrong with another the next day. However, keeping our motives pure is not hard if we seek God’s help. Ask the Lord to show you when you are not doing something for the right reasons. Let’s have the courage to do regular motive checks and be bold enough to to do nothing if we can’t do it for the right reasons.

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Good Works Wrong Motives Part 2 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Good Works Wrong Motives Part 1 of 2

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:00:06 +0000

I believe God is really big on motives. I don’t think what we do impresses Him much. His concern is why we do it. Motives are something that we have to be very careful of. Why are we doing what we do? Is it for God’s glory? Or, is it to be popular or well liked by people? Honestly, asking ourselves why we do what we do can take a bit of courage. It causes us to really look into our hearts and face truth. We may not like what we see. But God’s word says the truth will set us free (John 8:32). If we do find impure motives, we can go to God and ask Him to not only forgive us but help us in that area.

The second part of 1 Corinthians 4:5 says “…who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” God see our hearts. People may not see or hearts motives, but God does. What is more important? Getting a smile from people, or getting a smile from God? I’ll take God’s smile any day

There is a show on TV that my husband and I often watch. This show features various people that have experienced death and lived to tell about it . One thing in particular many of these people talk about is experiencing judgment. Romans 14:12 says “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” We will have to give an account of not only our actions but our motives as well. God doesn’t reward wrong motives. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 6:1-4.

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Good Works Wrong Motives Part 1 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Light Celebrating Darkness

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:00:35 +0000

This time of year, the celebration of evil seems to be everywhere. It’s not surprising that the world and those that don’t know the gospel celebrate it. But what irritates me the most is when Christians celebrate and participate the the activities that take place this time of year. Why is it that Christians are willing to participate in a holiday that celebrates death and darkness? As representatives of Jesus Christ, we are to represent everything that He is. Which is light, life and goodness.

Wanting to have the facts right, I did some reading on the origin of halloween and learned that it is rooted in the Celtic culture. This excerpt was taken fromWikipedia :

“The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain( pronounced sam-ween), allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family’s ancestors were honored and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces. Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.” This played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. Another common practice was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink.”

There are many other pagan rituals that helped to birth the holiday as we know it now. None of which represent anything that the bible says we should be apart of. (see Deuteronomy 18:10-14) “Well, it’s just a day for the kids to dress up and have fun” you may say. This day is a serious holiday to those that partake of witchcraft and satanism. These religions go against everything that God is and wants us to be. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 says “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” Before we just blindly celebrate things just because they are promoted as “fun”, we should research and find out what it is really all about. This is what I believe the scripture means when it says to” test all things.” After reading about halloween I found that clearly, no good is involved in it. Therefore we shouldn’t be involved in it.

Ephesians 5:11 says “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” When we have no fellowship with something, we don’t participate in any part of it at all. Down playing it to be something fun is still participating in it. When we begin to compromise in even that seemingly small area of our lives, we open the door for compromise on other areas. Let’s have no fellowship with darkness, but spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and begin to let our lights shine.

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Light Celebrating Darkness is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Using Your Sword and Shield Part 2 of 2

admin — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:00:54 +0000

Ephesians 6:17 says “…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”. Every time satan tried to tempt Jesus in Luke 4:1-13, Jesus countered those attacks with the word. As mentioned yesterday in the scenario given, we have this weapon at our disposal. Yet, we fail to use it, allowing the enemy to tell us lies. We know that satan is the father of lies. You get rid of a lie with the truth. And the word of God is truth. So, when we use the word of God as our sword we counter attack the enemy.

We can’t use the word as our sword if we don’t know it. This is why we have to know God’s word and have it in our hearts. Jesus didn’t pull a bunch of scriptures out of His pocket. He had the word in His heart. Our bibles may not always be right there for us to pull them out. When the word is in our hearts, we know it automatically. I always used to wonder how my husband knew so many scriptures. We would be having a conversation and he would quote them left and right. It was like the word was part of his normal vocabulary. When I started to study God’s word for myself, I realized that he had it in his heart.

Luke 4:13 says that the devil went away until an “opportune time”. This told me that the devil left with intentions on coming back. 1 Peter 5:8 says that the enemy walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. This scripture starts by telling us to be sober and vigilant. In other words, we are to be watchful. We can’t get so caught up in life that we let our guards down. A great example of how we are to be on guard is the border patrol and coast guard. If we want to cross the US border to go into Canada, or Mexico, there is always someone there at the gate. There are also patrols all along the US border. Making sure no one gets into our country illegally. We are to be on patrol the same way.

Jesus went through everything that we go through. He is the example of everything we should be. God has given us all that we need to deal with the devil. The sword and shield in Ephesians 6:16 and 17 are not the only parts of our spiritual armor. Let’s get suited up for battle, use our weapons and defeat the enemy.

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Using Your Sword and Shield Part 2 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Using Your Sword and Shield Part 1 of 2

admin — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:00:23 +0000

Imagine fighting in a war. You look down at your feet and all of the necessary weapons are there at your disposal. Yet, you don’t use them. You continue to allow the enemy to defeat you in every battle. You may pick one weapon up and use it from time to time, giving you small victories here and there. But you seem to have a tough time fighting the war. You even look over and see some of the other soldiers on your side using their weapons and you get a little jealous because they aren’t suffering the same as you are in the battles. What is wrong with this picture?

Sadly, a lot of Christians are in the same state. God gave us all that we need to defeat the enemy. Yet, we don’t always use what He has given us. Luke 4:1-13 tells us about the encounter Jesus had with satan in the wilderness. I have often read this situation and thought that it only deals with temptation. The other day when I read it, I realized that it doesn’t just deal with temptation. It tells us how to deal with the enemy in other areas of our lives as well. Verse 2 says that Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and after wards, He was hungry. The devil first approaches Jesus and tells Him in verse 3, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread”. The response that Jesus gave him was Deuteronomy 8:3, “’Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God’”. This goes on for a few more verse until Jesus tells the devil in verse 12 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God”. Jesus used the word of God to repel the devil. In doing this, He showed us how to deal with the devil too.

Ephesians 6:10-20 is what I like to call the “armor checklist”. It lists every part of the armor of God. It even tells us what each part is for. Ephesians 6:16 says “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”. I believe the fiery darts mentioned in the scripture is the deception the enemy uses to trick us. When the enemy attempts to tell us something other than what God has promised us, we use faith to shield us from those attacks. We activate our faith by believing God will do it even though it may not look like something is happening.

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Using Your Sword and Shield Part 1 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Taming the Tongue Part 2 of 2

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 12:00:44 +0000

I noticed that when Jesus did miracles, He spoke things into being. When He healed He simply said “Be healed” or when He cast out demons He told them to come out, and they did. In Genesis, I counted about nine verses that said that God “said” and it was. When the earth was created, God simply spoke it into existence.

Just as words were used in this manner, we too can use our words to improve our situations. Instead of saying “I can’t” we can form a habit of saying “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Instead of saying things will never change, we can say that all things work for the good of those that love the Lord. So often, people spend tons of money on motivational speakers and they sit around and wait for someone to tell them they can do something. God tells us in Proverbs 18:21 that death and life are in the power of our tongues. Jesus even said in Matthew 17:20 that with faith only the size of a mustard seed we can move mountains by only speaking it.

James 3:8 says that no man can control the tongue. However, God can control our mouths. When we try to do things on our own we can’t. It is only when we ask God for assistance that the things that we need help doing can be done. So, let’s stop trying to tame our tongues on our own. Ask God for the help. He is standing by waiting to assist us.

“Father God, help me to control my mouth. Help me to know when to speak and what to speak. Help me to open my mouth in wisdom and put the law of kindness on my tongue”( Proverbs 31:26)

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Taming the Tongue Part 2 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Taming The Tongue Part 1 of 2

admin — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:00:53 +0000

One thing that gets a lot of us in trouble is our mouths. James 3:3-4 says “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs” Although it is a small part of our bodies, it has the most effect on our lives. The words we use can either build up, or tear down. This what I think Proverbs 14:1 refers to when it says the wise woman builds her house but the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

It is very important that we are conscious of everything we say. Many times we say things that we don’t mean. Let me be the first to say that God is dealing with me on this. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34 that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Later on, in verse 37, He said that we will give an account of every idle word we speak. This makes sense because God looks at what is in our hearts. If we are speaking foolishness and evil, then, that is what is in our heart.

God tells us in Proverbs to use our words in wisdom. Sometimes, using wisdom when we speak is just thinking before we speak (James 1:19). As I said before we sometimes tend to say things we don’t mean. This can be out of emotions or out of just speaking too quickly.

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Taming The Tongue Part 1 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Seek God and Live Part 2 of 2

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:00:18 +0000

…continued

We do have idols Dostoevsky said, “Man cannot live without worshiping something” We worship at the alter of our own inadequacies. We collapse into the laps of smooth gods of comfort and ease. We loan our eyes happily to the god of entertainment. The muscular god of sport claims our passion and drains our vision. Our gods exhausts us.

We dishonor the poor, and we shy away from urban ghettos. Yet God measures our love for Him by the way we treat them. They are the divine litmus test. Do the poor make regular appearance in your prayer life? Do you ask God for way to touch the faithless children in your city? Do you know who they are?

We are apathetic to the appalling injustice of racism. I believe weeps that Sunday morning is the most segrigated hour of the American wekk. We would do well to weep with Him. We are reeking of sin, and God loves us too much to let us go on smelling.

God comes to cure, with the antidote always being Himself. “Seek Me and live.” The phrase thunders repeatedly through Amos 5. It’s the four-word cure for everything wrong, everywhere. “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth!” Isaiah shouts (Is. 45:22).

How do we seek Him? By esteeming His words (even the difficult ones) more than our necessary food (see Jon 23:12); byallowing His Words spacious room in our thought life; by obeying Him. We seek Him like a paleontologist, willing to dig in the hot sun, joyfully looking for the slightest clue about His character and personality. We seek HIm, dear one, with confidence, because He said, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all you heart” (Jer 29:13).

May you, beloved, be a woman who wholeheartedly seeks God. Life will follow you. That’s His promise.

“Seek Me and Live” was copied from the New Spirit Filled Bible for Women. Formally published as Women of Destiny Bible. Copyright 200o, 2003, 2007 By Thomas Nelson Inc. Written By Fawn Parish

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Seek God and Live Part 2 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Seek God and Live Part 1 of 2

admin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:00:20 +0000

Sometimes, we tend to “get used” to the stench of our sin. We write it off as “Oh that’s just the way I am” or “I was just raised that way” Sometimes, we sit in a church service and we tell ourselves, “I don’t have that problem” God is standing by ready to scrub us clean and rid us of the stench of sin. We just have to seek Him.

Seek Me and Live

By Fawn Parish

Dear Friend,

We’d just turned on to the most gorgeous road in the world-17 Mile Drive in Carmel, California. Opening the windows, we were immediately assaulted by a foul putrid odor. These poor people, I thought. How can they live with this nauseating smell? We drove on holding our breath. Suddenly, my husband said, “Honey, that stink may be us.” Impossible, I thought. How could it possibly be us?

My husband (who knows all things mechanical) was clueless. After asphyxiating the tourist population of Carmel, we found a station and fearfully opened the hood. The battery was spewing out sulfuric acid fumes. It was ready to blow up any second and could blind anyone standing near.

We desperately needed a good diagnostician, someone who wouldn’t mince words. “This is what’s wrong, and this is how you fix it. Hurry, there is’t much time!”

In Amos 5, God is the diagnostician, scrubbed and ready for emergency operations. His diagnosis: “You are seeped in idolatry, you disregard the poor, you afflict the just and take bribes.” The cure is quick and to the point, “Seek Me and Live” (.v4).

We might dismiss the warning. We think “Hey, I go to church, I tithe, I pray, I am even on the worship team. This couldn’t possibly apply to me!” But when we come to severe pasages like this, our hearts must stand at attentio and salute. We must listen…

to be continued…

“Seek Me and Live” was copied from the New Spirit Filled Bible for Women. Formally published as Women of Destiny Bible. Copyright 200o, 2003, 2007 By Thomas Nelson Inc. Written By Fawn Parish

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Seek God and Live Part 1 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com