Women's Equip - January 22, 2012

Dear sisters in Christ,

Have you ever had that experience where you are reading along in scripture and all of a sudden something strikes you- maybe even something you’ve read many times before?  I had that happen this morning in my personal devotions.  (I hope you set aside some time each day to read God’s Word and dialogue with Him about what He wants to speak into your life- praise, confession, thanksgiving, requests, listening.)

2 Timothy 3 includes a couple verses that are always used in a conversation about what is the purpose of the Bible.  Those verses are near the end of the chapter but closer to the front end are verses that describe the difficulties of the “last days.”  Now don’t freak out- I’m not going to give you my prediction for the end of the world but in describing people it says, (verses 4b-7)  “…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”

Have you considered whether or not you are tapping into the power of godliness?  It’s one thing to “appear” godly but what happens when we tap into God’s power?  I would love to hear some of your stories in that regard.

And there is one thing that drives me straight crazy- it’s the words “weak” and “women” used in the same phrase!  J  Listen to how Paul describes a weak woman- “burdened with sins and led by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”  Dear sisters, may it never be said of us that we are weak women because we have allowed sin to defeat us, or because we have allowed fashion or vanity or crafts or career or family or _______(you can fill in the blank) to rule us,  or because we have not allowed Truth (the person of Jesus Christ as revealed by God’s Spirit through Scripture) to live only in our brains and not consume every aspect of our lives.

Hear the Good News today that Jesus Christ has defeated sin, death and the devil.  We are victorious through Him and do not need to be burdened by sin.  Hear God’s Word as we are encouraged to consider everything as rubbish compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord.  Allow the Spirit of God to move you to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 
May there be no “weak women” in our midst but strong women- walking in step with the Spirit, free from the burden of sin and guilt, confident in the Word of God- the written expression of the Word Incarnate, consumed by the love of Christ!

God’s blessings as you are strengthened in and through the Spirit and God’s Word- Sonja Dixon