I’ve been reading in Luke this month. (There is a simple story as to why I jumped into this book mid-way through November, and I hope to share it soon.) These have been sweet mornings with my Jesus. Friends, please don’t ever downplay the amazing power in His Word alone. So many wonderful studies are out there to cause us to seek and find and dig into more of scripture so that we may love Him with our hearts, minds, and souls, but they almost all have this as their foundation – His Word! It all and always must begin there on the pages where His breath gave way to our very lives. Read it. Savor it. Ponder it. Love it!

I just wanted to share some quotes, scriptures, and comments from today – drawn from my date at dawn with Jesus.

Luke 18* Amplified Bible (AMP)

35 As He came near to Jericho, it occurred that a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he asked what it meant. 37 They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. 38 And he shouted, saying, Jesus, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me! 39 But those who were in front reproved him, telling him to keep quiet; yet he screamed and shrieked so much the more, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me! 40 Then Jesus stood still and ordered that he be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 What do you want Me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me receive my sight! 42 And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight! Your faith (your trust and confidence that spring from your faith in God) has healed you. 43 And instantly he received his sight and began to follow Jesus, [c]recognizing, praising, and honoring God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

Luke 1 Amplified Bible (AMP)

26 Now in the sixth month [after that], the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 To a girl never having been married and a virgin engaged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, Hail, O favored one [endued with grace]! The Lord is with you! Blessed (favored of God) are you before all other women! 29 But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled and disturbed and confused at what he said and kept revolving in her mind what such a greeting might mean. 30 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace (free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving-kindness) with God. 31 And listen! You will become pregnant and will give birth to a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great (eminent) and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His forefather David, 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages; and of His reign there will be no end. 34 And Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no [intimacy with any man as a] husband? 35 Then the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining cloud]; and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God. 36 And listen! Your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is now the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment. 38 Then Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what you have said. And the angel left her.

Her first response was to humble herself. Mary knew her place, but even more she knew God’s place: all-powerful, all-seeking, all-knowing, and all-loving. Because of who he is, Mary was able to offer herself to him as a “bondslave”…”a female slave whose will was not her own” …Think of this young maiden ‘consciously and willingly joining with the purpose of God to bring salvation to the world.’ Only God could have provided the faith necessary to take such a huge leap. And leap she did. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Luke 1:38
~The Women of Christmas**

I know one event occurred after the other. I placed them in the order of how I read them this morning – of how Jesus served me His portion this day. Faith. I usually describe it to my children in this way: belief/trust with feet. Faith – Faithfulness: it is our response – the living of our lives – to the One Who has initiated love to us, Who has been in undeterred pursuit of us since His heart first thought us up. Faith is our “Yes!” to His invitation, and in the instance of the blind beggar, faith is our “Yes!” before the invitation even arrives!

Faith is no easy thing for those of us gazing only at the world, but for the “bondslave” of the Lord – the one whose gaze is fixed on her master, ready at His signal to do His will – Faith is our only response. And be assured of this, our steps of faith are not singular or secluded. They will always lead to more and lead for more.

Think of this young maiden ‘consciously and willingly joining with the purpose of God to bring salvation to the world. Oh, what a purpose! Father, everyday I want to join with you to bring salvation to the world. Lead on, Sweet Jesus!

*my November scripture plan

**Join us over at Women of Prayer through December as we read and pray through The Women of Christmas.

I am a dreamer. Always have been. As a little girl it was a way to escape the harsh reality of my life, and as I grew it was that and a way for me to have hope for the future. My husband is a realist. He’s a “right here in front of you” kind of guy which makes his life much simpler, I think. I have always been looking to the next thing and/or the next place; he’s great at living exactly where he’s at when he knows God has called him somewhere. You know how opposites attract and how differences can compliment one another? This is not usually the case with a dreamer and a live-er.

So many times I have been the source of discouragement for my husband and his calling because it’s not what I dreamed my life should be.

I don’t have this, I’m not here or there, I’m not serving in this way or that, it’s not at all what…I thought…it…would…be.

There is this amazing woman tucked away in my hometown. Her and her husband were/are my spiritual parents. I rarely have connection with them now, but in high school they were nearly everything to me! About 4 years ago, 6-7 months after my first daughter was born, I took a trip to NC to see my best friend’s first born. I stopped in one evening at Mt. Zion, my old church family, as they were having revival that week. (Revival…do any of you miss that? I do!) It just so happened that about five minutes after I sat down, she walked through the door. Our eyes met, we smiled huge, we hugged big, and we made the executive decision to revive each other that evening. So, off we went to her husband’s office.

When I say “revive,” I mean revive! There has never been any other person or circumstance that has made me feel more at renewed in body, heart, mind, and spirit than sitting and sharing with that lady that night. We shared joys, we shared harsh realities, we shared sorrows, we shared prayers we’ve been praying since before I left NC, and then I said, “You and Ken told me I was going into ministry, but you never told me how hard it was going to be.” To which she replied with a smile, something like, “We didn’t want to scare you off!” Truth is, I don’t know if I would have believed her even if she had told me the hard truths of ministry; I was so enamored with how her and Ken served the Lord – you know, with my outside-the-loop perspective. But what I found out that night was this: all the hard I was experiencing, was as Solomon put it, “nothing new under the sun.” Many of the situations are similar, it’s how men and women have dealt with them that are different. I am ashamed to say, I haven’t dealt well.

I was always told to follow my dreams; never once was I taught how to lay down my dreams in order to follow God. I was taught that God had placed these desires within me and so it was His responsibility to work them out. Never was I taught that giving up my dreams, trusting Him with them whether they came to fruition or not, may be the very thing He was asking of me. Never was I taught that supporting another’s calling would be my calling. Again, I am ashamed to say, I haven’t dealt well.

So, today I was reading Day Nine, His Purpose, and I got to this:

“His wife…also hears God’s call on his life and she supports it in every way she can”
And
“God has called you to something, too. But it will fit in with whatever your husband’s calling is, it will not be in conflict with it.”

And as I read that again, I responded to God the same way I did the first time I read this, “But I have nothing to do with Nathan’s ministry!” I can’t stand beside him on Sundays and sing, a longing I had to give up on a long time ago because y’all, I can’t sing – literally! I also have no interest in or desire to learn code or pixels or how to create images or how to enhance images for websites or publications. I sometimes give him my thoughts on a graphic – which he taught himself how to do, and I think that’s a truly amazing God thing – but I don’t have it in me to want to do that stuff myself. I don’t play an instrument and when it comes to Sunday mornings, I don’t even get to stand beside him and talk to people. I pretty much feel like he has his thing and I…I have our kids and home. (Okay, I can’t believe I’m actually sharing all this. This is real, but I’m not sure many would approve of me getting all this “out there.” I don’t even know that I approve…)

So, as I am reading over this chapter, I am still crying out to God, “Really, all you want me to do is pray?! That’s it!

“Your prayers can help cast away discouragement and keep it from taking hold. It can help your husband to hear and cling to God’s revelation. It can cause him to live his life on purpose.”

And here’s where I have the Peter conversation with Jesus. “But what about that couple? They are able to serve together here/there, in this way/that way, and they seem so effective.” And Jesus replies just as He did to Peter when he wanted to know what John’s call would be, “What is that to you…you follow me.”

Then, as I’m praying for him, the final sentences stop me once again,

“I pray that the desires of his heart will not be in conflict with the desires of Yours. May he seek You for direction, and hear when You speak to his soul.”

See, here’s what I know, Nathan does seek God’s desires. He has not always done this perfectly, but he knows how to lay down his own personal preferences in order to do God’s will. He also seeks God’s direction and voice. It’s me that seeks my own desires and direction and uses the excuse that God must have put them there, so surely He wants them to work out in my life. So, when I pray that desires would not be in conflict with God’s desires for Nathan’s life, it’s mine I’m praying will not be the conflict.

Ladies, this may or may not be every married woman’s story, but it is mine. It is not one I am proud of or even want to admit to. When I get overwhelmed with my selfish thoughts, I go back to Ruth’s biography. I read her prayers about the possibility of marrying Billy Graham. “Lord, if you’ll let me serve alongside him, it’ll be the greatest honor of my life.” (Or something like that.) I read these words and others from this amazing woman who also wanted to be a single missionary but instead became the wife of a traveling evangelist and the stay-at-home (mostly) mother of five while her husband was gone most days of the month. Her disposition, her life, her worth, and her love were founded in Jesus Christ and his glory. When she prayed for God to give her the desires of her heart, I think Ms. Ruth probably understood that He would actually give her – place within her – the desires that come from a life that delights in God. These desires aren’t found or fulfilled in the world, within a selfish heart, nor are they a one size fits all. The details will be different; the purpose will be the same. To honor and glorify God, to build His Kingdom, to live for His pleasure.

So, let me wrap this up with some truth. First, my husband has always encouraged me to find a way to work out my desires and passions where we are at. He has always told me how valuable I am to his ministry and life. He has even asked me what I think I would do when the kids are older (to which I usually get frustrated and weepy because I honestly have no idea…I have no dreams to turn to…yet). My life is not in any way shape or form bad or unfulfilling or less than – my feelings don’t always adequately express my reality. My so-called sacrifices are minimal but they are being used to draw me closer to the One I want to give everything for! Unlike how I sometimes feel, I do believe and know that I have a purpose and a hope and a future in Christ – He has prepared good works for me. And despite the fact that I won’t stand on stage with my husband or even beside him by the church doors any time soon, my prayers for him can be part of helping him to stand in both those places or anywhere else God calls him. Oh, and one BIG TRUTH – being called to be Nathan’s helper is not a lesser calling! This appointment was given to Eve in Eden when all was perfect and when there was no question about men and women being seen as equal before God. Yes people, we are seen as equals before God though our roles are different. And when we are called “helper,” it is not a demotion – Jesus Himself (the Holy Spirit) is called our Helper.

Ladies, pray for your men. Pray that their purposes will be fully fulfilled in the power of Christ Jesus! And please, don’t allow the enemy to have access to any part of your heart, mind, or motivations which will undoubtedly cause you to be a stumbling block to your husband. Instead, stay secure in Christ’s love, and let your prayers give your husband ground to stand on!

Today, I went to one of the scripture references after I prayed for Nathan and myself about the finances we steward. I encourage you to read Luke 12:13-38. It was interesting that I read that far, as the “financial scriptures” seemed to stop at verse 34, but right below it were words on being ready for Jesus’ second coming. And I read these words as if I’d never really read them before.

“He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern…For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom…Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be (31-21, 34).” …

AND THEN I READ ON…

“Be dressed for service and well prepared, as though you were waiting for you master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks (35-36).” …

GET READY, THIS NEXT WORD STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS!

“There will be special favor for those who are ready and waiting for his return. I tell you, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat (37)!”

He himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! You mean Jesus, Who already gave everything to have us with Him, Who served others through His own exhaustion for years here on this earth, Who conquered death and is now seated at the right hand of God, still plans to let us sit down and eat while He puts on an apron and serves us…if we are ready when He returns?! His love for us is truly more than we can imagine ladies! AND His love for our men just the same – more than we can imagine! Do you ever forget that? Do you ever space on how much our God loves your husband – His boy!? The better question would be, do you ever think about, ponder, seek God on how much He loves your husband? I am sporadic at best, but it is His heart for Nathan that I want more than my deceitful one!

As we’re praying for our husbands and their finances today, let us keep our hearts focused on the point of it all – that our husbands would be ready when Jesus returns, so that they will receive the fullness of the favor of God! Our greatest desire for our men should be that they live in the riches of His glory both now and forever, and that every tangible thing they deal with (like money) be another way they draw closer to God.

(Let us also check our hearts. We want to be a gateway for our men to receive these blessings from God. Our own outlook on and actions with finances will either read them for Christ’s return and reward or it will hinder them. This is one area in which we must check our love for Jesus and our men!)