My Journey Pt. 1-2

My Journey to Biblical Living Pt. 1

     My journey to Biblical living has been lifelong and will continue throughout my life.  I was saved by faith through Jesus Christ at the age of fourteen, and the best way I knew I followed what God had called me to.  I come from a very good, Christian family, who knew how to raise a Godly family in light of not having the wonderful resources we have today.  My parents had the discerning Spirit of God and His Word to lead my sister and I in our lives.  We have a great heritage of Christian multi-generational faithfulness and I thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for the blessings He has given us.
     Some say this is not a very powerful testimony, but I believe it is the most powerful of all, for God has blessed and protected us through many aspects of our lives.  This does not mean we have not had trials and tribulations, nor that we have not failed God and His Word many, many times, for we have, and we ask for His forgiveness on a regular basis.  
     I married the man of my dreams, my childhood sweetheart, the only man I dated, and I was the only girl he had ever dated, when I was 18, and he was 26.  He was such a man of character that no one in our church ever questioned our age difference.  We had a wonderful, God-centered wedding and began our journey of life together.
     Four years later we began our family.  We had four children within the next three and a half years.  Twins were in the middle and the first pregnancy was the only normal, healthy and easy one.  I was in the hospital for an entire month before the twins were born,( I'm sure God was giving me rest He knew I would be needing soon).  With my last pregnancy I contracted meningitis in the eighth month which was scary, to say the least, but through the entire process we trusted God and leaned on Him.  Each of our children was perfect in every way, and still are.  They are such a blessing to us, I cannot describe how much I love each of my young adults, which they are now, and enjoy watching and listening to them on a daily basis. 
     Since our first child was born God had been working on my heart, especially as a mother, drawing me to His will and to the highest calling He can bestow upon a woman.  I accepted it early on, and even though there have been struggles, I have tried to listen and obey His will for my and my family's life.
     I will discuss some of these struggles and expand on where God has been leading and is still leading me in my daily walk with Him.  It is a wonderful place to be, and even though I fail Him often, I strive to obey His commands and His will for me, to have that relationship with the Holy God, the One who saves, and the One who commands obedience to His Word.
     I pray you not only read our blog to see what we have done or where we have been; my desire is that this will help draw you into a sweeter walk with the God of all Heaven and earth, and that you will desire to walk in His commands, no matter how difficult or how far from our culture and society it may seem.    
    

    

My Journey Pt. 2

     In the past few years God has been teaching and leading me to places I knew were there, I just either didn't know how to get there, or wasn't ready to go.  But, when God leads, He will always take you to the most beautiful place. 

     Complete obedience to God's will is my desire.  His will is counter cultural, which means being obedient to the One who gave me life and breath, I must deny what our culture says is right or wrong.  When the world around us cannot tell a difference between a Christian and a non-Christian we must realign ourselves with the Word of God.

     Our lives must revolve around our Lord which means making changes that are not always popular.  Through discernment, much observation, and studying His word, I have seen what changes our family and myself needed to make, in order to line up with God's will.  I will talk more about what we have done and changes we are still in the process of making soon. 

Continuing On  the Journey

     To see where God was leading me I had to go to His Word first.  Knowing He created me a woman, I had to begin where woman was created, in Genesis.  Genesis 2:18 and 20b says, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.' 'but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.'"  In verse 22, "The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man."  I was created and designed to be a helper, and choosing to marry I am a helper to my husband alone, not other men.  Eph. 5:22, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." (italics mine)

     The next place I had to turn was who I am as a wife.  The most important point other than being his helper was to respect my husband.  This was not conditional.  Eph. 6:33b, "and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."  I have a wonderful husband, but good or bad, out of obedience to Christ first, I must respect him.  The blessings which come from being obedient are wonderful.  1 Cor. 11:3 says, "But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ."  To get any of these out of order is to go against God's design.  It would be equally rebellious.  Verses 8-9, "For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake."  Woman was made from man and for man.

     A condition of the heart is whether we are willing to be obedient to all God commands.  My desire is to be pleasing in His sight.  My dress was another that needed change.  I wasn't one who had to do a 360 or even a 180, but there was room for improvement.  Our dress should say, 'purity,' 'humility,' or 'moderation.'  Christianity argues for a beauty that is both inward and outward.  I also had to learn "to learn," to be submissive, to have a quiet and gentle spirit.  WOW!  I had alot to work on, and with God's grace and His never ending mercy, He has helped me come a long way.  1 Tim. 2:9-15, and 1 Peter 3:1-7 have helped me see that God's desire is for us to possess a deep unfading beauty that enhances outward appearance and He calls us to nurture what is eternal and precious.

     Becoming a Titus 2 woman is extremely high on my priority list as a woman called of God because I do not want to be guilty of dishonoring or blaspheming the Word of God.  Women are called in verses 3-5 to be "reverent in their behavior (behavior as becoming holiness), not malicious gossips (false accusers) nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage (teach or train) the young women to love their husbands (fulfilling all his needs), to love their children, to be sensible (self-controlled, discreet), pure (chaste), workers (keepers) at home, kind (good), being subject (obedient) to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored (blasphemed or reviled)." Parentheses, other translations.  Bold print mine.  I do not want in any way to be guilty of dishonoring or blaspheming my God, not consciously anyway.  And when I do, I pray God brings it to my mind immediately so I may repent of yet another time I have failed Him.

     If we do not follow God's plans and His commands, there will be consequences for disobedience, and that is something I do not want to subject myself or our family to.  My desire is to pray for those generations to come, so they will not feel consequences I may have brought on them through my disobedience.

     The last point I will bring now is God granting me the gift of being a mother.  I thank Him every day for my children, but there was alot I had to learn along the way.  "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6.  The subject is 'you,' which is referring to fathers, and parents.  We have to take a long, hard look at 'who' is actually training our children.  If they spend more hours with other people than they do with their mother, that is who is training them, and there is no promise involved when others train our children.  We must take discipling and disciplining our children seriously for them to grow in the shadow of the Almighty God who created them and gave them life.  Those two words are so closely spelled and I believe they go hand in hand. 

     There is much more to be said about what God has taught me dealing with modesty, parenting, sarcasm, respect for husband, and teaching respect to children, on family integration and children in the church, and we will deal with these topics in future posts.   God, forgive us for not willingly giving You our children and thinking they are a burden for us or to others.  I pray through my discernment God has granted and much observation through the years,  I may be able to help guide others through the blessings of being a woman, through marriage, and  the gift of motherhood.

Grace and Blessings to all,

Always Experiencing Him,

Jody