Up Where We Belong: Reach For It!

But those who trust in the Lord
will find new strength. They will
soar high on wings like eagles
(Isaiah 40:31 NLT)

In this 21st century, it seems implausible that women are still seeking empowerment!  Now I know that covers a lot of territory depending on where you see the lack.  Maybe its on the job where the proverbial glass ceiling is holding tough.  Or perhaps you're still nursing your wounds over the fact that Hilary Clinton wasn't elected President of the United States. If you're a Feminist, we could stay on this subject all day long....but do we need to?

As a woman, I too am tired of women being the butt of every joke. Demeaned in every rap song, objectified in media of every type, and a cliche in every serious discussion.  But what saddens me most is that for some of us, we've  begun to drink the Kool-aid (believe that it is so) and have started acting the part!  I'm here to remind you that it is time to grab another sister and victoriously Rise Up Where We Belong...To Reach our highest potential in Christ!  To Become More of Who We Already Are in HIM!

I don't know about you but when I'm in need of inspiration, I don't run to the nearest bookstore and find a New York Times best seller on the subject.  I look in God's Word, and it never fails me.  I get just what I need to put me on the right path.  More times than a few, His Word  points me to the simple things in nature, for example the awesome and majestic eagle!

In Isaiah 40:31, I'm encouraged to wait on the Lord and He shall renew my strength and I will mount up with wings as an eagle, run but not be weary and walk and not be faint. Is that not the perfect remedy for weariness of the mind and soul?  

The great eagle in many pictures looks fierce and intimidating but don't you know it has the gentle heart of a mother beating beneath its wings.  Deuteronomy 32:11 shows me the crucial balance between sternness and maternal protectiveness.  Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. Doesn't that sound like the God-given perseverance every mother must have for rearing healthy children?

What I'm saying is this...Stop letting other people define you!  Keeping you stuck in a box of their own making! 2 Peter 1:3 says, His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life  through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  His calling in our lives is to reach our full potential in Him!  But the only way we can break through to these new heights is to:

1. Avoid Negative Self-Talk (Eph. 4:29). Take these three phrases out of your vocabulary: I can't...(I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me. Phil. 4:13).   I don't... have the qualifications; the experience, the boldness, the finances. (And my God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus, Phil. 4:19).  I'm not...smart enough, strong enough, attractive enough. (I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for me? Jer. 32:27)

2. Affirm Yourself in God's Word. (Create a personal affirmations statement to help you grow in God's grace) Here's an example.  I know I'm Somebody, Cause God Don't make No Junk!

3.  Learn these Lessons from the Eagle,  by John Maxwell's Law of Magnetism  (Prov. 30:18, 19)

--Eagles make things happen (they don't sit around and watch!)

--Eagles see and seize opportunities

--Eagles influence others

--Eagles add value to others

--Eagles possess an uncommonly great attitude

--Eagles have excellent relationship skills

--Eagles have an eagle track record of success

--Eagles think differently

--Eagles continually grow

Pray This Eagle's Prayer

The road is long, there are mountains in the way,

but we climb each step with You every day.

  Lord, lift us up where we belong, where the Eagles cry

on a mountain high!

Lord, lift us up where we belong, far from the world

we know, Up where the clear winds blow.

Amen

(Words adapted from a song written by Buffy Sainte-Marie)

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

If you would like to leave a comment please send an email to: sisters4sisters@att.net OR  scroll to the bottom of my blog page at  http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com  click on the  no comments by the pencil and it will change to a writing space.

HELP WANTED: A Few REAL Women

Teach older women to be quiet and to be
 careful how they act also..
(Titus 2:3)

Now a days, it's hard to tell what's real and what's not! I mean how many of us have been duped thinking we were getting a bargain and found out our stuff was fake?

It reminds me of a story about a Christian brother whose friends kept teasing him about settling down.  Every time they asked him about getting married, he'd always respond, "Man, I'm waiting for a real woman."  Well, one day he found her right there at 10:30 a.m. service.  They dated for over two years and he just knew she was perfect for him.

On his wedding night, as he anticipated the "big moment," he looked up and a stranger walked into the room!  His "real woman" had taken off her false eyelashes, her wig, took out her partials, and on the floor was a push-up bra and a pair of bootie pops!  Just as he started dialing 911, she sweetly said, Honey, it's okay, don't you know?  It's awful hard to find a real woman!

I wonder if our hurting teens and young adults (some in church and out) look at the behavior of Self-proclaimed Super Saints say the same thing...it's awful hard to find real women in the church! Let that not be said about you my Sisters.  A few weeks ago, I penned a letter to my
 younger sisters, sharing an older woman's perspective on cross-generational relationships.
http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com/2017/06/dear-younger-sister.html

As  expected I got a lot of "AMENS" from women in my season and older.  However, I want to be fair!  I do understand for some young women, the church may be the last place they go for an authentic Titus 2 relationship.  Let's remedy that while we still have a chance!  

Wisdom teaches that before I start pointing fingers at others to look first at myself.  I've been doing that recently but not trusting my own assessment; I also went to the Word of God and have been praying Psalms 139:23-24

23 Look through me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any sinful way in me and lead me in the way that lasts forever. 

From my own experience, I see that some older women need to be taught how to look and act like seasoned women of God.  Sisters many of us are suffering from an identity crisis!  We don't know who we are as older women and as a result our younger sisters are totally confused.  I hate to break it to you....but younger women don't really want YOU to be their Girlfriend! They want a REAL woman they can depend on to give them TRUTH with LOVE and RESPECT!

According to Titus 2:3-7

REAL WOMEN TEACH CHARACTER (vs. 3) Reverence has to do with holiness, Holy living!  There are some things that real Christians women won't do!  It's simply not in our Spiritual DNA.  Paul mentions gossiping and drinking but being mean spirited and nasty is just as bad. Trash talking and bullying young females whether on the internet are in person is demeaning and detrimental to any relationship you want to nurture.

REAL WOMEN TEACH MODERATION (vs. 4-5) Simply put, to be sensible. What has happened to common sense, Mother wit, Horse sense, things like don't spend more money than you make (accrue credit card debt); Don't talk to strangers (meet, date, hook-up with men you know nothing about); Keep your children out of your personal business (expose them to your on again, off again relationships, vices, etc.) Go to sleep at a decent time and stop eating so much junk food (two reasons many women and their children suffer from obesity and ensuing health problems.) 

REAL WOMEN TEACH GOOD THINGS  (vs. 7) They not only do so with words but by example.  How to value and respect their bodies, to lead with grace in their private and public lives (integrity) and to prioritize what God values and not the present culture.   We do this not to impress or to appear spiritual  but to bear out the Truth of God's Word...to show that God's way works. 

So, the next time a young woman puts up a symbolic HELP WANTED: I NEED A REAL CHRISTIAN WOMAN sign...why not...Step up and Say....APPLY HERE!

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

If you would like to leave a comment please send an email to: sisters4sisters@att.net OR  scroll to the bottom of my blog page at  http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com  click on the  no comments by the pencil and it will change to a writing space.