Author: patricia grace

Cultural and Current Events, Musings and Amusing

God’s Good Intention for Women

patricia grace

Listen to popular culture long enough and you will hear, more than once, the idea that Christianity is bad for women. Either that or you’ll find someone professing Christ but denying Biblical Christianity because of unpopular verses (ex. 1 Tim 2:12) and distorting the commands of Christ.

No matter what the world will tell you, the Bible is clear about the lengths that God has gone to in order to protect, honor, and show love to women.

We are introduced to the sin of a woman very early in the creation account in Genesis1 and part of the curse of her sin was regarding childbearing (Gen 3:6,16). Eve was told that she would now give birth to children in pain. Yet, in bringing salvation to the world, the Lord chose a humble young woman named Mary to give birth to the Savior. Childbirth was cursed, and yet God uses childbirth in His plan of salvation of mankind. And a star player in this plan was a Jewish girl.

As a woman poured a very expensive perfumed ointment onto Jesus (“…to prepare me for burial” Matt 26:12b), the disciples complained that the act was a waste. Jesus defended the woman stating that her actions would be remembered all over the world where the Gospel was preached.Later we see his closest disciples abandoning Jesus as He was taken into custody before His crucifixion. Yet we are told “many women” were at the crucifixion “looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him…” (Matt 27:55-56) and two are named: Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph.On the first day of week after Jesus was crucified, the two Marys are once again featured as they are the first to be tasked with sharing the good news of Christ’s resurrection, first by an angel, then by Christ Himself (Matt 28:1-10).There’s certainly more Scriptural evidence of God’s care for women, but the example of God using childbirth is most precious to me. In the Gospel writers’ accounts, we see God using the very thing that was cursed in a woman’s life to bring eternal life to her and redemption to all who would ever repent and believe the gospel of Jesus the Christ.Jesus is truly a Redeemer, reconciling us with God the Father who promises to be with His children always (Deut 31:6, Heb 13:5).

  1. Edited: formerly noted “The first person who sinned was a woman and part of the curse…” Strictly speaking, I don’t now think it’s correct to say that the woman sinned first. Adam sinned by not showing proper leadership as the head of the woman. We are told that Adam was “with her” (Gen 3:6) and that while Eve was deceived, Adam knew it was wrong to eat of the forbidden tree (1 Tim 2:14). ↩︎
Bible Study Notes, Cultural and Current Events

What I *Won’t* Do in the New Year

patricia grace
happy new year 2019

It’s the time for New Year’s Resolutions, which usually includes something you want to DO in the New Year. For now, I’ve formulated a list of actions that I want to keep from doing instead.

Chasing Sleep

Although sleeping too much is definitely something that I want to avoid, that’s not exactly what I mean here. Whenever I can’t sleep (a situation that occurs more often lately), I tend to just lie in bed for hours praying for sleep.

This habit isn’t helping me to rest and I’ve decided to just get out of bed when it happens. I keep fearing that if I get up and do something else then I won’t feel rested; however, lying in bed for hours mentally chasing sleep hasn’t helped me a bit!

Tweet from Paul Washer reads 3am...cannot sleep...One thing I have in common with the Apostle Paul. Many sleepless nights.

I’ve read that evangelist Ray Comfort has spent hours in prayer when he can’t sleep. And one of my favorite Bible teachers Paul Washer has reminded us that while Jesus was God in the flesh, He still sacrificed sleep and relied on His Father in prayer. (Luke 5:16, 6:12) We are made to need sleep, but we can sacrifice some bodily rest to receive spiritual rest and refreshing.

(If insomnia is a problem for you, you may want to read Ray’s book Overcoming Insomnia*. And for more on Paul Washer and prayer, check out his sermon on the I’ll Be Honest YouTube channel).

Failing to Submit

This resolution is not simply a good idea, a goal, or part of a life enhancement plan. Being submissive is a command of the Lord to all of His children, and I’m referring particularly to the command to wives to submit to their husbands.

 

…submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:21 ESV

 

Immediately after writing the heading for this section, my resolve was tested. I enjoy my solitude, especially when writing, and my husband frequently interrupts with questions. Obeying the Lord’s command to serve my husband trumps my desire for quiet work, however, and this resolution is going to be the most difficult to fulfill. The Lord is worthy of my obedience and my husband, as a brother in Christ and fellow image bearer is worthy of my respect.

 

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:22 ESV

 

We’re enjoying some new devices we received for Christmas, and he often has a million questions for me since I’m much further along in technology knowledge than he is. Instead of being grateful for these wonderful inventions, I am tempted to succumb to aggravation and an ungenerous spirit. Failing to submit is definitely something that needs to go.

Lack of discipline

My life is blessedly full. I have several self-paced online computer courses which I’ve undertaken, an active church membership, family obligations and events, along with a love of Bible study. The problem is that I float along from one task to another, often leaving projects unfinished. It’s well past time to do something about the lack of disciplined time management in my life.

With all the aforementioned technology tools, I have zero excuse. There are apps for time management, reminders, and event scheduling. And, whether or not I make use of technology to help, I have the gift of the Holy Spirit Who is a promised counselor and guide.

My first step after closing this article will be to take some time to actually schedule my day tomorrow, instead of lazily drifting into the stream of obligations with no plan or goal. With God’s help, I’ll be leaving a few sinful, bad habits in the past and greeting the New Year rested, submissive, and fruitful!

Bible Study Notes

Do not fret

patricia grace

After all the temptation to fret, once again, the Lord provided for all our needs.

In regards to my last post, my husband remembered another friend who used to attend our church who is an electrician. We found his office number and my husband had a nice conversation with the man. He is still attending church and came out to assess the situation the same day.

He needed to bury a new wire and told my husband that if he could dig a trench out, he could come back and hook up the new wire. Well, this accomplished two good things. One) It saved us money on having someone else do the digging and Two) we have old rotten deck boards that needed to be taken out anyway. So, my husband has gotten rid of those rotten boards in the process of getting our electrical repair sorted out. Blessings!

As of last week, the electrical issue with the sump pump is fixed. The yard is a mess and we need to put sod or new decking where all the digging was done, but the fearful fretting is over.

In the middle of all of this, before my husband had finished the trench and before the electrical work was done, our BSF (see https://www.bsfinternational.org/  for more information) study handout had this important reminder that jumped off the page at me:

Often, God uses times of waiting to teach His children that His presence is more precious than any answer or desired outcome.

BSF notes Lesson 11 People of the Promised Land

I thought, “Am I valuing God’s presence more than getting these home repairs done?” Maybe for the first time ever, I could honestly answer “Yes!” I want things to work properly, I want my husband to figure things out, I want folks to respond as they should, etc, etc, but my relationship to God is supremely important. More important than all of those other (good) desires.

I finally understood what people are talking about when they describe peace and happiness with the LORD even when their circumstances are less than ideal.

There are still little things that need done around the house. I wish all of them were completed and that the bank account could support hiring repairmen to complete them all. But, my emotional and spiritual health need not be wrecked by unfulfilled wishes. I can have a solid, settled peace whether or not these are done, all because my eternal soul is safe and I have a great future with the Savior of the world.

My newfound peace was tested again a couple of days ago, when I found that our homeowner’s insurance had quietly billed our mortgage company again, after more than doubling our premium. We’d received an email regarding a change in rating, but nothing else alerting us to a rate change. Again, the temptation to fret and carry a sinking feeling around with me threatened to rock my peace. But instead of giving in to fretting, I prayed and remembered the promises of God to sustain me and care for me.

In less than two days, after a quick quote from our auto policy provider that also offers homeowners insurance, I got a better policy with similar coverage. I’m hoping my mortgage escrow account can be readjusted soon as the former homeowner insurance double billing was now requiring over $200 more each month for our mortgage payments, starting next February. But, guess who’s not fretting as she waits for the mortgage company to sort all that out? Haha, you’re right if you guessed it’s me– THIS GIRL!