The February Young Women Active for Christ Bible Study is available online now! Go to www.wnac.org and check it out!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
YWAC Bible Study for February
The February Young Women Active for Christ Bible Study is available online now! Go to www.wnac.org and check it out!
Thoughts on being single
God created women to be a help meet for men. (Gen. 2:18)
A virtuous woman has a honorable husband. (Prov. 31:23)
Young women are commanded to love their husbands. (Titus 2:3-5)
The older women are to teach the younger women how to do so. (Titus 2:3-5)
Women are to submit to their husbands. (Ephesians 5:22)
I understand all that.
God has a plan for the way a home and a family works. The man is the head of the household and the woman is his supporter and helper. She submits to his authority, he loves her like Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:22-25).
So what does that mean for a single woman today? If you don't have a husband, what does all of that mean to you?
I'm beginning to wonder if this is one of those questions that is unanswerable... You know the kind - like why do children die of cancer? And if God tells us to be fruitful and multiply then why do people have problems with infertitlity?
Why do some people have to go through life alone?
It seems like such a heavy cross to bear, but Paul considered being single a blessing:
"I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them to abide even as I." I Corinthians 7:7-8
I can understand what he was saying there. When you're single, sometimes the only person you have to talk to is God. That can really deepen your relationship with Him, while if you were married or in a romantic relationship you probably would spend that precious time with another person instead of spending it with God.
Plus, the people in Corinth were having problems within their marriages. He continues the chapter with warnings against divorce and fornication.
He even encourages the young, single men and women in verse 25: "Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful."
Be faithful.
Those two words are encouraging and discouraging at the same time. It's good to know that you can always count on God, but it can be so hard to wait on His timing. It's always worth it, but that doesn't make the wait any easier.
So what does all this mean for people like me - people that hope to someday be married, but just haven't gotten there yet? Paul sums it up pretty well in 1 Corinthians 7:34b "The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit."
We are to be faithful and remain pure and holy.
A hard task? Sometimes it can be. But God has His reasons.
God says "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," in Matthew 7:7. He wants His children to be happy. Tell Him about your dreams and desires. And have hope for the future, but don't spend so much time living in the future that you forget to enjoy the present.
A virtuous woman has a honorable husband. (Prov. 31:23)
Young women are commanded to love their husbands. (Titus 2:3-5)
The older women are to teach the younger women how to do so. (Titus 2:3-5)
Women are to submit to their husbands. (Ephesians 5:22)
I understand all that.
God has a plan for the way a home and a family works. The man is the head of the household and the woman is his supporter and helper. She submits to his authority, he loves her like Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:22-25).
So what does that mean for a single woman today? If you don't have a husband, what does all of that mean to you?
I'm beginning to wonder if this is one of those questions that is unanswerable... You know the kind - like why do children die of cancer? And if God tells us to be fruitful and multiply then why do people have problems with infertitlity?
Why do some people have to go through life alone?
It seems like such a heavy cross to bear, but Paul considered being single a blessing:
"I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them to abide even as I." I Corinthians 7:7-8
I can understand what he was saying there. When you're single, sometimes the only person you have to talk to is God. That can really deepen your relationship with Him, while if you were married or in a romantic relationship you probably would spend that precious time with another person instead of spending it with God.
Plus, the people in Corinth were having problems within their marriages. He continues the chapter with warnings against divorce and fornication.
He even encourages the young, single men and women in verse 25: "Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful."
Be faithful.
Those two words are encouraging and discouraging at the same time. It's good to know that you can always count on God, but it can be so hard to wait on His timing. It's always worth it, but that doesn't make the wait any easier.
So what does all this mean for people like me - people that hope to someday be married, but just haven't gotten there yet? Paul sums it up pretty well in 1 Corinthians 7:34b "The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit."
We are to be faithful and remain pure and holy.
A hard task? Sometimes it can be. But God has His reasons.
God says "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," in Matthew 7:7. He wants His children to be happy. Tell Him about your dreams and desires. And have hope for the future, but don't spend so much time living in the future that you forget to enjoy the present.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Are you available?
Our God is all-powerful. He can do anything that He wants. And yet, He chooses to use us - unreliable, imperfect people - to carry out His will. He chooses to work in our lives; not because He needs us, but because He loves us.
I was listening to the Ty Show on WDJC tonight and heard Matt Pitt, the founder of The Basement (a huge youth rally in Birmingham). He was talking about how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. I love this quote from him:
This is so true! Need proof? Check out the New Testament. When Jesus began His ministry, He didn't go to the Temple to find strong religious leaders to be His disciples. Instead, Jesus called on normal, common men that were a little (or in some cases, a lot) rough around the edges. He called Peter, a hot-headed fisherman. He called Matthew, a tax collector. He called James and John while they were in their fishing boat.
When Jesus met these men, He didn't ask them what abilities they had that would help His ministry. He didn't ask them about their strengths and weaknesses. He simply asked them to follow Him. He didn't need any ability that they had. He just needed for them to be available and for them to be willing to walk with Him.
That's all God is asking of us today. He doesn't need a list of your talents. He knows what they are already because He blessed you with them. He doesn't need a list of your weaknesses and excuses. He already knows about them, and He has the power to overcome them. All He wants is for us to follow Him.
When we choose to be available for God, He will take our ordinary lives and make them extraordinary.
I was listening to the Ty Show on WDJC tonight and heard Matt Pitt, the founder of The Basement (a huge youth rally in Birmingham). He was talking about how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. I love this quote from him:
"God doesn't need your ability. He needs your availability."
This is so true! Need proof? Check out the New Testament. When Jesus began His ministry, He didn't go to the Temple to find strong religious leaders to be His disciples. Instead, Jesus called on normal, common men that were a little (or in some cases, a lot) rough around the edges. He called Peter, a hot-headed fisherman. He called Matthew, a tax collector. He called James and John while they were in their fishing boat.
When Jesus met these men, He didn't ask them what abilities they had that would help His ministry. He didn't ask them about their strengths and weaknesses. He simply asked them to follow Him. He didn't need any ability that they had. He just needed for them to be available and for them to be willing to walk with Him.
That's all God is asking of us today. He doesn't need a list of your talents. He knows what they are already because He blessed you with them. He doesn't need a list of your weaknesses and excuses. He already knows about them, and He has the power to overcome them. All He wants is for us to follow Him.
When we choose to be available for God, He will take our ordinary lives and make them extraordinary.
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