Strong Women Pt. II

Our country's economy has been beyond horrible these last couple of years, causing mothers to venture out of the home and find jobs to provide income for their family. We also see a lot of men, usually involuntarily (layoffs), leaving their work place and becoming stay at home dads. There is a lot of controversy to this, men thinking that women need to stay home while they go out and provide. And they are absolutely right. Men are made to provide for their family, but that does not mean only by working for money. Men can provide in so many ways for their family. They can provide their time, their support, their talents, and their care. The Bible is not against women in the workplace. In fact, the famous Proverbs 31 woman was a working mother.

While I do not have any experience in marriage, except for the observing I've done of married couples surrounding me, I have spent a lot of time reading about marriage and contemplating how I want mine to be.

An illustration came to me the other day. I want my relationship with my future husband to be like a weight lifter and his spotter. My husband would be the weight lifter and I would always be his spotter. The ultimate goal for this diad would be for the weight lifter to lift all of the weight (go figure), but the interesting thing is that when the weight seems to be too much for the weight lifter and maybe his arms collapse from weakness, the spotter must be able to pick that weight up off of the weight lifter or the spotter's job is futile. Even though the weight lifter is the one known for his strength, the spotter has to be just as strong as the lifter, or else there is an extremely dangerous situation at hand.

I want to be a spotter.

Strong Women

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. - Colossians 3:18

Submit. This is a word that haunts many Christian women. The connotation of the word represents weakness and a comparison to a door mat. God does not want women to be door mats. He wants strong women, who live in His word and show the nurturing nature that He created them with.

As a young person, I really wish there were a different word to represent what this means. Submit is outdated, in my opinion. It may have been the right word, at a certain time, but people have given this word a bad meaning. It's very similar to the word "awful". "Awful", is actually supposed to mean something is "full of awe" which would make it good, but over time the word has changed to mean something atrocious or bad.

I'm not sure what word I would choose to replace "submit".

I might say, "Wives, become vulnerable to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord."

Or maybe, "Wives, support the ideas and goals of your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord."

Women are meant to be the perfect combination of beauty and strength.

Society, in my opinion, makes women feel bad for being a woman. It always hurt me when I was little to hear, "You throw like a girl" or "You can't play; you'd probably fall down and cry like a girl." They made me feel horrible for how I was born, so I developed a thick skin and started acting like a Tomboy.

Why don't we give girls a feeling importance? That they aren't just submissive doormats, but brilliant creations of God.

"Eve was not made from Adam's head to be above him, or from his foot to be trampled by him. She was made by his side to support him, under his arm to be cared for by him, and by his heart to be loved by him." - Joshua Harris Boy Meets Girl

Remembering What We Wish to Forget

Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." – Matthew 16:23


When the unequivocal feeling of guilt seeps into your mind, it is most difficult to take yourself away from that low place. It all comes down to knowing who the enemy is and how he works.

As I was lifting weights at the gym today, the most random and horrible feeling of guilt came to me. The guilt pertained to a past sin that I committed, confessed, and (according to The Word) was forgiven of.


Despite my confession long ago, I felt the need to apologize to God, again. I started to say, “I’m so sorr…” but an overwhelming influence in my spirit shouted, “No! I’ve already forgiven that sin. Satan wants you to remember.”


God does not evoke us or place the feeling of guilt on us.


Two of Satan’s best known ploys are tempting and reminding. We either feel the temptation to repeat past sin, or we become reminded of past sin. Being reminded of past sin puts us one step farther from being close to God.


The best spiritual day in the world can come crashing down by just remembering that one time. That one time you lied. That one time when you looked at that attractive woman a little too long. That one time when you refused to follow what God was telling you to do. That one time when you didn’t put all 10% of your income in the plate.


God doesn’t remember our sins, why should we?


Don’t let Satan get away with even reminding you of the sins you’ve repented of. It’s his pathetic way of attempting to separate us from the Everlasting.


Challenge: If you become reminded of a past sin, it’s not God who is reminding you, it’s Satan. Speak the name of Jesus, repeat your favorite Bible verse, or simply say, “Thank you so much for your forgiveness of that, Lord.”

Judge Not

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" -Matthew 7:1-3

I personally struggle with judgement of others. I judge everyone I run into during the day. Co-workers, strangers, other drivers on the road, even family.

I find that we judge based on issues that we struggle with ourselves.

For instance, we judge the size of people when we ourselves are overweight or underweight as well.

We criticize "bad parents" when we don't even know where our own kids are.

We gossip about another's marriage when our own marriages need counseling and improvement as well.

When Jesus says that the way we judge people is how we will be judged, a feeling of fear comes over a lot of us.

There are days when that verse makes me smile, because I feel confident that I've not judged anyone too harshly. But then again, there are other days where it sends trepidation into my soul.

On the highway the other day, there was a wreck so the the far left lane was closed, and I needed to get into a different lane. Traffic was bumper to bumper, and long story short, I thought a guy was going to let me in, but instead he sped up and flipped me off.

My mind rushed with things I wanted to call him, say to him, do to him.

And as "God of Wonders" was playing through my speakers (I'm not kidding), I realized that my anger was strictly Satan, trying to divide me from my ultimate goal in life; which is showing people who Christ is through my words and actions.

I should have prayed for him. But, I honestly didn't. Instead, I chose to judge him based on his driving and kindness to others. There was a strong feeling of guilt on my heart when I realized this, but I know that God will put me in another opportunity soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Challenge: The very next time someone says something disrespectful, rude, or inappropriate to you just walk away and pray for them. Remember, the Bible says that we must be slow to anger. Pray for that man or woman until you're no longer angry, no matter how long it takes.

@#!*$^@&*# (Cussing)

Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats. Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues. - Psalm 10:7 (NLT)

How many times do you cuss in one day?

If you're a christian, the answer should be zero.

As Christians, we need to speak and act like our savior.

My philosophy is that whatever I speak like in real life I should speak like in prayer; and vice versa.

When I pray, I want to sound as authentic as possible, so I never use words like "thou" and "thy" and "If the Lord tarries", because I never would say that to my best friend.

And that is just what Jesus is... a best friend.

In the same way, I would never cuss when praying to God, so I shouldn't cuss when talking to people.

Challenge: If you deal with cussing as a personal struggle, ask God to change how you speak. Confide in a Christian friend and ask them to keep you accountable and ask you how you're progressing.

The Wedding of Three: Bringing God Back into Holy Matrimony

(This is a paper I wrote for my english comp 1 class, the assignment was to write a paper defining 1 "thing", I chose Chrisitan Marriage)


With a divorce rate of fifty percent, outrageous adultery statistics, and drive-thru Vegas weddings, obviously the concept of marriage is despised and ridiculed among many skeptics (Divorce Rate Statistics). Most married couples have no common goal other than to love each other, but do not know what true love is resulting in an infatuation, which can only go so far when the stresses of life take toll. As far as the Christian faith goes, marriage is a spiritual union between two spirits and God. The two souls must share a love for primarily God and secondarily for each other. Christian belief defines love as the act of self sacrifice: giving up oneself for the benefit and needs of another, which was demonstrated by Christ on the cross. When a couple approaches the altar for marriage, they are two spirits; and when they leave the altar, they are three.
When two Christian people get married, they are commanded to take on the attributes of Christ everyday and treat their spouse as Christ himself would treat them. Another way of looking at it is comparing husband and wife to Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:23 says, “For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.” A common misconception among unbelievers as well as believers is that “head of his wife” means dictator or total dominance. This is certainly not the case. Christ is the head of the church, and he loves the church. His love for the church is incomprehensible to humans, because no human has the capacity to fully love the same way.
The Bible commands husbands to love their wives as they love themselves (New Living Translation, Eph. 5:33). Again, God commands husbands to love their wives. A command is something that must be done. There is no option when it comes to a command. A Christian husband who doesn’t love his wife as he loves himself or as Christ loves the church (to the best of the husband’s potential) is sinning against God and must ask for forgiveness and rebirth from that sin. Therefore, the wife in a Christian marriage is not a door mat; she is loved greatly and “she is more precious than rubies” (New Living Translation, Prov. 31:10).
In the same fashion, wives are commanded to respect their husbands (New Living Translation, Eph. 5:33). Dominance is not the goal of this command, either. Reverting back to the husband and wife comparison to Christ and the church, wives are to show respect to their husbands as they show respect to God. Respect does not mean bowing at the husband’s feet in worship, it means making him feel good about himself. It means not calling him names or referring to his flaws and insecurities all the time. Any self-respecting person would expect this from their significant other, regardless of their faith, and that is what the Bible commands wives to do. Consider a woman that goes to church every Sunday. The reason she goes is because she can feel Christ’s love when she worships, or respects, Him. She does not go because Christ is a dictator to her, she goes because He is tender, gentle, and quick to comfort. When she feels His overwhelming love, she in turn will worship Him, telling Him how amazing He is, how much she appreciates what He does in her life, and how she longs for only His heart. This is how exactly how a relationship between a husband and wife should be.
In the New Living Translation of the Bible, Ephesians 5:33 says, “So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Another Bible translation, The Message, explains the relationship between husband and wife perfectly. In context, it says:
No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband (The Message, Eph 5:29-33).
The love between a husband and wife, when put in full trust of God, is a love that cannot be given, received, duplicated, or exceeded by anyone but Christ.
A Christian marriage has many advantages over a marriage of non-believers. Besides the spiritual gratification received from sharing a walk with Christ and the loved one, Christians have an arbiter to settle their disagreements. When a Christian married couple comes upon an issue that they must come to an agreement on, they are not forced to overly debate it and cause tension in their home. They can take the issue immediately before God and find out what He says about the topic. There is nothing a married couple can argue about that is not in the Bible. Sex, finances, adultery, in-laws, and parenting are all common topics of guidance in the Bible. Another advantage of a Christian marriage is that there is no worriment of sexually transmitted diseases, presuming both partners waited until marriage to have sex, as God instructs. If this is the case, a married couple who both waited can be certain that their other half is pure and untouched, which is a beautiful and assuring thing. Sex is essentially bringing two people together and becoming one. Having sex with someone is a physical and spiritual contract that cannot be broken and can leave anyone with wounds that will need to be worked out in time.
Being in a relationship contract with each other and God is a wonderful advantage, but can also be a disadvantage. When a couple makes a commitment to each other and God, it means that divorce is not an option because a union with God cannot be broken. In fact, Jesus specifically said, “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery" (New International Version, Matt. 5:32). If a couple is divorced for any reason other than adultery, it is wrong for them to marry again, because this is adultery in the eyes of God. Another disadvantage of a Christian marriage is the obsession that others have on said marriage. Non-believers have a fixation on watching Christians and condemning them for any time they slightly step off the path they have been following. In actuality, Christians sin just like non-Christians do. The only difference is that Christians are forgiven when they repent and confess with a contrite heart. When a Christian husband and wife have an argument or go through something that puts a crack in their marriage, the world sees it as a failure and a gap in their spirituality. They say, “I thought they were Christian. What hypocrites. I can’t believe he did that to her! I guess being Christian doesn’t mean anything anymore.” Certainly, Christians have their seasons of sin and hard times, but it is no function to the capability of the Maker.
When Christians marry, they are uniting with each other and God, which can lead to rewards and drawbacks. Overall, marriage for Christians is a magnificent unison. They have a personal marriage counselor and mediator to the highest extent. Christian couples know how to truly love their spouse because “God is love,” and when they pursue love together, they can give it back abundantly to the creator and each other (New International Version 1 John 4:8).

Works Cited
Divorce Rate Statistics. 28 3 2009 .
New International Version. The Holy Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984.
New Living Translation. The Holy Bible. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1996; 2004.
The Message. The Holy Bible. Colorado Springs: NavPress Publishing Group, 2002.


Challenge: If you are in a relationship (marriage or dating) ask your significant other to give you three things that you could do that they feel would help your relationship... and do them! Don't worry if they don't want to know three things they could do, give yourself humbly and the Lord will give back greatly.

The Least of These

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. - Matthew 25:40

First of all, Hello. This is my first Blog entry. If you like what you see, come back. If you don't like what you see, well, goodbye. ;)


Feel free to encourage, entertain, comment on, or criticize my thoughts.


I plan on using this Blog for articulating thoughts and ideas that God is giving me. Writing, to me, is an act of worship. I promise to use this blog to tell only truth that I feel God is setting on my heart.

If later I feel like I missed God in something, I will come back and delete or edit. Its that simple.

Now, for my first post...

In Matthew Chapter 25, Jesus talks about taking care of "The Least of These" and that when we take care of a "Least", as I will call them, we are taking care of Jesus directly. This thought always baffles me. Its difficult for me to imagine the fact that when I hug a heart broken child or give a homeless man a meal, I am hugging Jesus or I am feeding Jesus. But this is what the Word tells me.

As I was sitting in Church on Sunday I came across Matthew 25:40 and could not stop focusing on the words "Least of These".

Who is a "Least of These"?

In previous verses, Jesus gives many examples of a Least. He says that a Least is someone who is hungry, thirsty, a stranger needing company, needing clothing, or a prisoner needing a visitor.

I realize that the people that Jesus describe here are pretty cut and dry; not needing any explanation, but I believe that Jesus was using a parable within a parable, here.

I believe that EVERYONE, is a Least. Not all the time, but at times.

Could hungry or thirsty mean someone who needs a word or touch from God? Who needs to hear the gospel for the first or one-millionth time?

Could a stranger needing company (or invited in) be someone who needs a church or needs a person who will listen to them?

Could a person needing clothing need more than just cotton threads? Could it mean that they need forgiveness and the grace of God to cover them from head to toe?

Could a prisoner who needs a visitor be someone who is not in jail at all, but still guilty in their spirit? Could that mean that they need someone to speak to them, if God tells them to do so, and break them from their bondage? Maybe they need to forgive someone else, and they are trapped in the prison of anger and hate.

What I'm trying to get at, is that we are surrounded by Leasts.

If a hungry person is fed, are they hungry anymore? If that was the only thing that made them a "Least of these" then they are not a least anymore. If a naked person is clothed, they are not naked anymore, thus removing their reservation to the tri-annual "Least of these" banquet.

Your Parents are Leasts.

Your siblings are Leasts.

Your boss is a Least.

Your children are Leasts.

Your coworkers are Leasts.

Your pastor is a Least.

Your deacons, elders, Sunday school teacher, worship leader, and organ player are all Leasts.

You are a Least.


Not all the time, but at times. We all have moments in everyday life that we need a word, an ear, grace, and forgiveness.

When you give someone your time to help them through their struggles, you're doing it to and for Jesus. You're building up his kingdom, brick by brick; soul by soul.

I'm not canceling out the need for helping the homeless, or strangers, or prisoners as Jesus literally said. Giving to people who have nothing is a wonderful ministry and should never be stopped, by anyone. If you have a roof over your head, running water, electricity, heater and air conditioning, and 25 pairs of shoes (only 5 of which you wear regularly), GO GIVE SOME SHOES TO SOMEONE WHO NEEDS THEM. You aren't just giving something to someone in need, you are helping a child of God, and you will be rewarded in heaven for it, even if the person doesn't seem very grateful.

My Pastor's favorite quote is, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose" - Jim Elliot

There are people out there in the world that need more than just clothes, bread, and water. Some of them are homeless, some of them are millionaires, and some live in your own home.

Challenge: Whenever you encounter someone today or tomorrow, think to yourself that they are in need of something, that they are a least. Find out what it is and give it to them. A word, a listening ear, a friend, whatever it is... give it.