The Voice of a Wife

Wives have great influence over their husbands to do them either harm or to bless their lives by encouraging them to do good. A godly wife can either encourage her husband towards godliness or lend her hand to lead him straight into the portals of hell.

Eve is our first example of a wife who did her husband, and all who followed, great harm.

Gen 3:17 – Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Eve had a great opportunity to bless her husband by encouraging him to obey God. Instead, by listening to the voice of the enemy, she brought the Lord’s discipline upon her husband and herself.

Jezebel is another example in Scripture where we see a wife who’s influence on her husband was used for destruction rather than good. A perfect opportunity was presented  in which she could do good towards her husband and encourage him towards godliness. Instead, under the pretence of comforting her husband, she flames his corruptions and feeds his pride and passion and encourages him to join her in killing  Naboth. Scripture says…

1 Kings 21:25.. There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.

In the New Testament we have the ungodly example of Sapphira, who instead of encouraging her husband to do what was right before the Lord, followed him in his deception. The Lord’s discipline cost both their life. Things may have gone differently if this wife would have not stood with her husband in his sin but encouraged him to do what was right.

Acts 5:2… With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostle’s feet.

Proverbs gives us the opposite example of a God fearing wife.

Prov 31:12 –  She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

How can our voice and our actions influence our husband’s towards godly lives? By obeying God’s commands! This is the greatest love we can show our husbands. Our example will lead… and our voice will give clarity of our commitment to their good.

I Jn 5:2 – By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.

Truly loving our husband doesn’t  mean following them into sin. We show our love to our husband’s by obeying God’s commands.

I pray our husband’s hear the voice of a wife that only does them good and not evil all the days of their lives.  Help us, Lord!

DO WE REALLY LOVE OUR CHILDREN?

It seems like a contradiction to look at a precious newborn baby and think of them as depraved and sinful.They are so helpless and precious!  Although, by the time they near their second birthday, if not before, we can see the fact so clearly. We have given birth to a sinner!   Romans 3:10,11

Just withhold something they want, Mama, and watch the fireworks! A frown, scowl, yelling, hitting, biting or a big time “NO”.

A clear plan for disaster in child training is to give in to these sinful manipulations for fear of upsetting or displeasing the child or just out of pure weariness or laziness. It’s not the easy path for a Mother to resist and train a child continually throughout the day.  The easy path is to give in to these demands just to keep peace. But, where does this type of training lead? Where will this child’s pattern of making demands and manipulation take him by the time he is an adult?

 Let’s break it down.  Let’s say that your child whines for a soda pop or asks for treats but you have said “No, dear. It’s too close to dinner time.” Immediately, the child begins to pout, frown and cry.  How do you respond? Do you immediately give in to that child’s demand just to keep peace or do you firmly keep your resolve and discipline him for his rebellious response? Or let’s say that a child is never made to eat anything good for his body but is always allowed to make his own decision of what he will eat. Let’s say that you have tried to get him to eat healthy things but as soon as he protests you back off and allow him to eat what he wants.  What is this child being taught?

You have taught him several things, dear Mother. The number one lesson …. you have just trained him to not obey his parents. You have allowed him to break God’s command that tells a child to obey his parents. You have strengthened his resolve to sin instead of training him how to restrain sin in his life.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother”  – which is the first commandment with a promise – “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Eph. 6:1

Secondly, you have taught your child that if he makes a scene, yells loud enough or pouts he can get what he wants. You are helping him to form patterns that will take him into adulthood. Will this training help him or harm him in his pursuit of godliness as he grows older? What kind of spouse will this child become if his demands are given in to daily? The patterns and habits our children establish in the home will be carried into their own homes. Who they are as our children will be who they will be to their spouses.

Thirdly, a mother’s inconsistency and lack of parental authority is revealing a lack of true biblical love towards her child. Every godly mother wants what is best for her children. She wants to train up children who will love God, be a blessings as a spouse and to their church and community. Scripture says that if a Mother does not discipline her child that she actually hates that child.  Why? Because she is loving herself more than the child. She may think she is giving in to his demands only because she hates to see him cry and be unhappy. But, in reality she is loving her own self-ease and peace more than the child’s best interest. This is not true love for our child.

Biblical love is …  a Mother  that lays aside her own self-ease and does what is best for her child’s soul. A godly Mother will do all within her power to train her child to obey God and His Word out of the love for the child’s soul and his relationship towards His God.

He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him. Proverbs 13:24

We all have our personal struggles against sin. If we’ve lived any time at all on this earth we’ve experienced some hardships.  Yet, when I read of the sufferings of Christians in other parts of our world I realize I have very little to complain about.  I realized this even more after reading Bette’s (bboop) post about the suffering she and her family endured during her husband’s long  illness.

[Forgive me,Lord, for my fears that rob me of the joy's and blessings you have showered on me and my family this day.]

I was born in a spoiled generation although I’m not sure that can be my only excuse. The Israelites had their fears as they traveled through the desert yet they lived years before me.  Yet, I have read many, many books written from Christians in generations past that endured such hardships that I can’t even imagine and their heart’s response was one that so glorified our God. They did not see it as a violation of their rights. They didn’t expect that they deserved a life free of pain. What is the difference? Why do some Christians break under the weight of trials while others rise above them, eyes set on the Lord, and bring great glory to His name? Has our generation become so soft that we run from hardship and suffering? Do we expect to live pain free? I believe I’ve succumbed to this mind set.

I continued to think about this subject of suffering long after my conversation with my friend came to a close. I thought of my expectations for an ‘easy’ life here on earth and how I fear any type of suffering. We, as American’s, do not expect to suffer do we? Comfort is up there on America’s #1 list of pursuits. What a contrast to our brother Paul who knew suffering awaited him in every town yet he boldly went forward to do the Lord’s work in spite of the cost to him physically. He endured much at the hands of men.. he was ridiculed, beaten, starved. Yet, he knew that his present sufferings were not worthy comparing with the glory that would be revealed in him. Romans 8:18. He rejoiced in his sufferings knowing that they produced perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3

My mind needs to be renewed. I think in many ways I have taken on a form of the world’s thinking as it pertains to suffering. I made a note to spend some time this next week collecting Scriptures on suffering and to take note of the attitude taken towards it. I

My friend sent me this poem from Amy Carmichael. I’m wondering if it was written during the time that she was an invalid and unable to walk. She spent many, many years in her bed. Amy knew about suffering yet her greatest ministry came during the time of her most intense sufferings.

Changes…

I was reading Jenn’s post today and it has me thinking about how difficult it can be to change our old habits, whether it’s bad housekeeping habits (unmade beds, dirty dishes in the sink overnight, etc.) or sinful character habits (gossip, overeating, laziness). I was asking the Lord what to share today and after reading her post I decided this was the perfect ‘blog’ for the day! Here is what I shared with Jenn…

“This is what I have been learning concerning Eph. 4:22-24..when we have established ungodly habits and patterns that kick in ‘seemingly’ on auto pilot… we are to PUT OFF the action or thought the minute it comes to the surface… RENEW OUR MIND with what God’s Word says about the habit/sin….. PUT ON the new action. Many times we will PUT OFF and RENEW but we never PUT ON the new action. For instance, if a person is prone to the sin of gossip. They would prepare ahead of time to combat this sin so that when it comes up again they would be ready to do battle. They would look for the areas where they are tempted to gossip. Confess them, repent of them, and ask for God’s grace to stop the sin. They would have their Scriptures ready for the next time the temptation arises. Once the temptation hits they would …

PUT OFF: Stop the sin while it’s at the thought process. Don’t allow themselves to speak it out of their mouth.

RENEW THEIR MIND: What does God’s Word say about the sin? Memorize and remind themselves.

PUT ON: Finally, they would PUT ON the new behavior.  Eph 4:29 has an example of  PUT ON for unwholesome talk and it’s to edify those who are listening by wholesome words. So instead of gossiping about the other person you could find something positive about that person that would edify the person you are speaking to. What would benefit the person you are speaking to? Gossip would only encourage them to sin by tempting them to say something unkind about the person, too. Or it would give room for the enemy by judging the other person unfairly. Eph 4:29 : “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

This Scripture (Eph 4:22-24) and it’s application are really helping me change my eating patterns. My blood work came back showing I was pre-diabetic. I can stop or reverse this reading if I will change the way I eat. My husband has always enjoyed down home cooking. I’ve spent the last 30 years collecting recipes so that I can cook like my Grandma used to… fried chicken, mashed potatoes, homemade yeast rolls, cobblers and homemade ice cream. Oh, I’m getting a hankering to get in that kitchen and do some serious cooking! But, the fruit of this way of cooking has not brought good results in my body or my husbands. So, now at the age of 48 years old,  I am having to change these habits if I want my husband and I to remain healthy. This has not been an easy adjustment. I’m having to find new recipes. I’m having to accept that I’m not going to be getting ‘pats on the back’ for my great cooking. (Let’s face it… a low carb cookie cannot compare to a blackberry cobbler!). Everything is new.

To change this pattern of my old way of cooking and eating I have had to make up a new plan. I’ve identified the old patterns that have caused me to eat the wrong foods, I’ve collected Scriptures to encourage me to do right and I’ve made a plan to eat healthy foods. When thoughts come up to indulge in the old way of cooking and eating I’ve reminded myself that ‘whatsoever I do, whether I eat or drink, I’m to do it for God’s glory.’ God gets no glory in my eating in a way that brings much harm to His temple. Then I PUT ON the right action by eating healthy food.

I try not to make provision for the flesh by having healthy veggies and fruits available. I try to keep tempting foods out of the house except for those special occasions when family comes together. I’m counting calories and keep a watch on that during the day plus I am trying to walk 3 times a week.

These are just a few examples of how to change an ungodly pattern. I wish someone had opened this Scripture up to me years ago. I fought over individual sins for years before I was able to overcome them. God’s Word is my delight. It truly is a lamp to direct our path.

Have a glorious day in HIM!

The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Duet. 33:27

We will never probably know how many times the Lord is our refuge until we are on the other side of heaven. Yesterday was one of those days that it was very clear… the Lord had been my refuge.

I had to run to town to deposit some checks so I asked my daughter in love if she wanted me to take my 3 yo granddaughter. My DIL helps in running our home business and can always use a break. I had a few things to do before we left. My granddaughter was so anxious to get going. She called on the phone and said, “Gwammy, are we late yet?” Once I made it over to her house you should have seen her coming out the door. She was in pink from her head to her toes. Pink bow, pink sunglasses, pink dress, pink sweater and pink purse. She was so adorable. Before we left the driveway we prayed together for God’s safety and protection on our trip into town.

We had a lovely time together. We stopped for lunch before we headed home. She was such a good girl. We were about 5 minutes from our property when I sent up another prayer thanking the Lord for his protection. The hi way that runs into town is known for having many accidents.  Just minutes later as I was driving on the country hi way a big truck pulled right out in front of me. I swerved into the opposite lane but couldn’t avoid him hitting us. He hit on the back side of the truck which sent me flying. Audree had been asleep but the crash woke her up. I was able to drive the car off the road.

We were safe! The Lord had been our refuge and our protection. I am still praising God! So many things could have happened. I could have hit a car head on in the other lane or the truck could have hit at Audree’s door. God was so merciful!

I’ve been thinking about God’s protection a lot lately. It seems that there are so many disasters, more than I can ever remember in years past, and more predicted. The bird flu is being talked about continually now on the news and is thought to become a worldwide threat not like anything seen since the early 1900′s. I live in California and a huge earthquake (8 point magnitude) is predicted within the next 20 years. Fears on every side. These type of disaster cannot be predicted or prevented. It’s not as if you can do something to protect yourself.

Yet, God has promised to be our refuge. I’ve been thinking about that so much lately and found myself mediating on Psalm 91 more than ever …

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God , in whom I trust.

… Surely he will save you from… the deadly pestilence..  You will not fear the terror of night nor the arrow that flies by day… A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand but it will not come near you… IF you make the Most High your refuge, then no harm will befall you.

Oh, the whole Psalm is so comforting. In these last days (and I do believe we must be in the last days before our Lord returns) God will more and more become our refuge if we make the Most High our dwelling place. I know for myself that  in my younger years I never thought of depending on God for my safety. America was a seemingly safe place to live. No threat of terrorists or plagues or any of the other horrors you hear on the evening news. Today is different. We have threats on every side. Yet, the Lord has promised to be our refuge … his faithfulness with be our shield.

I’ve been working on a family cookbook for my girls and immediate family. It’s nearly finished and I hope I can give it to them for Christmas. While we were visiting my husband’s family a few months ago I ran across a book that my husband’s grandfather had written while he was a Pastor. He has long since gone to be with the Lord but he had left a part of him and His love for the Lord behind. I was blessed as I stood there looking through his book. It meant so much to me to know that my husband’s grandfather was a Christian and that he had prayed for his family and most likely my husband. It was at that time I had a desire to  put together a booklet of the articles on my web page to leave for my children. These articles, are in the truest sense of the word, a mirror of my walk with the Lord and the workings of the Holy Spirit in our marriage and family.

So, this afternoon I picked out an article and began to critique it. The article I chose was on lessons I learned during some difficult years of one of our children. As I read through the paragraphs that I had written many years ago the reality of what the Lord had done for this child became overwhelming. I was flooded with memories of those difficult years. The fear, turmoil and strife were so real as if it were yesterday yet the pain was not as deep as it once had been.

Yet, this afternoon I was able to sit before those pages and praise my God because He alone had brought my child to Himself. The door had closed on that trial in our life. We now are able to enjoy this young man in a way we hadn’t been able to for years.

As I was reliving some of the lessons the Lord had taught me during those years I was reminded of the greatest lesson… the Lord is our refuge in times of trouble.

I had my eyes on the Lord more during that time than any time in my Christian life. I knew that I did not have the wisdom or strength to meet that situation .I failed time and time again. But, by God’s grace my eyes were on the Lord. He was our wisdom when we didn’t know which way to turn next. He was our strength when we were so weary from the spiritual battle. He was our love when we felt we had exhausted ours. He kept us in the battle when we wanted to leave and run as far away as we could. We failed but He never failed us.

Not one of our prayers fell on the ears of a deaf God. God heard our cries. He heard our pleas for help to deliver our child from the grip of spiritual death that had him bound. We prayed for God to open His eyes and His ears to hear His truth. It became so clear that if God didn’t draw this child then there was no hope. God heard those prayers and He answered our plea for help! We called upon the name of the Lord and He answered us!

May His holy name be exalted!

Blessed Day!

It was family day at our home. I think I’ve shared earlier that my son and his family live on our 10 acres and help in running our family business. Our daughter has recently started working now and then in the business, too. Today, my daughter and her family came for a visit. It’s been wonderful having her come to the property once a week  recently to work  in the office. I love being able to see her and my grandson more regularly. Today my husband, son and son in love worked on building a porch on my son’s home. The girl’s worked in the office while the grands and I played! We also took a walk to the back of the property to feed the chickens, ducks and goose. I had bought a wire brush to scrub out some of the water buckets. It worked great to clean out the algae. The children fed the animals lettuce and vegetable scraps. I hope to buy some heavy plastic to cover the windows and door of the chicken coop this next week. The wind is howling outside so I think we are headed for some cold winter. It always makes me feel so good to know that not only my family is safe and warm inside on cold winter nights but that that animals have clean pens and are as warm as possible, too.

I’ve been cooking for a few days to prepare for today. I made homemade ice cream a few days ago. Yesterday I made a boysenberry cobbler and chocolate chip cookies for the grands. Today I made some deviled eggs. We barbecued steaks and ribs. My daughter in love made a tortellini salad and my daughter made a green bean casserole and brought some french bread. Everything was so yummy. (The ice cream, pie crust and tortellini salad recipes are found on my website. )

We all had a lovely time but it passed too quickly. I’m thankful for these times where we can all come together and fellowship. Normally, we have a family gathering once a month either for a birthday or just to share a meal. The grandchildren love getting together, too.

I’m listening to a CD set I received this week called Valley of Vision. It’s a collect of old puritan prayers. I’ve had the book for quite a few years and was so excited to see that the prayers had been put on CD.  My daughter bought me a CD player for my birthday. I have it in my kitchen and was able to listen to these prayers while I was cooking this morning. The prayers are full of rich teaching and doctrine. I found myself repeating these prayers and making them my own. I wanted to give you just a taste of what they are like…

Longings after God

My dear Lord, I can but tell Thee that Thou knowest I long for nothing but Thyself, nothing but holiness, nothing but union with Thy will. Thou hast given me these desires, and thou alone canst give me the thing desired. My soul longs for communion with Thee, for mortification of indwelling corruption, especially spiritual pride. How precious it is to have a tender sense and clear apprehension of the mystery of godliness, of true holiness! What a blessedness to be like Thee as much as it is possible for a creature to be like its creator! Lord, give me more of Thy likeness; enlarge my soul to contain fullness of holiness; engage me to live more for Thee. Help me to be less pleased with my spiritual experiences, and when I feel at ease after sweet communings, teach me it is far too little I know and do. Blessed Lord, let me climb up near to Thee, and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with Thee, and pant for deliverance from the body of sin, for my heart is wandering and lifeless, and my soul mourns to think it should ever lose sight of its beloved. Wrap my life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring Thee, always humble and resigned to Thy will, more fixed on Thyself, that I may be more fitted for doing and-suffering.

Today was spent on laundry and putting out ‘fires’, as Flylady says. Last week I spent 2 days doing extensive sewing on Christmas gifts and as a result I fell  behind on my laundry. Since I  line/rack dry all my clothes it doesn’t take long to get behind. I really have to stay on top of it each day if I don’t want to use my dryer. I save so much money by line/rack drying that I really try to make it a priority to keep on top of it so I don’t have to resort to using the dryer.

I’ve hoped to sew a lot of gifts  for Christmas to save money. It’s becoming more of  a challenge to make our budget stretch. I’ve really struggled finding the extra time to get the sewing done. I thought possibly if I set aside a day or two a week that this might be the answer. So, I set everything else aside and just spent the day sewing.  I don’t think it’s going to work approaching the sewing in this way because the rest of the house fell apart and I got too far behind on my laundry. Thankfully, it was a nice day outside so I was able to use the outside line and my 3 drying racks in my laundry room to catch up.  So, I plan on going back to setting aside an hour a day to sew and I’ll see how much I can get done.

I washed  blankets today for winter. The binding is torn on a few old blankets so I hope to pull out some scraps of fabric this week and sew on new binding. I’ll use the old binding as a pattern. My Mother has always done this with her old blankets. It’s less expensive than purchasing the satin binding in the stores.

My 3 year old granddaughter was over most of the day. Since I had so much work to do I included her in all that I did and she just loved it. Her Mama has always been good to make work ‘fun’ and has allowed her to work right along side her. You should have seen how well she folded the wash clothes. I was amazed. I’d tell her, “Perfect, Sweetie! You did a great job!” She’d say, “Is it ‘pewfext’ Gwammy!” What a doll! It’s never too young to teach a child to begin working.

Well, my husband is heading for bed so I better follow. It was a lovely day in my home. I love to ‘putter’. God bless you all!