There is only one found worthy, Jesus.
In my life, let your will be done.
All the doctrines of the Gospel are practical principles. The word of God was not written, the Son of God was not incarnate, the Spirit of God was not given, only that Christians might obtain right views, and possess just notions. Religion is something more than mere correctness of intellect,…
God, You are able.
Better is one day with You, Jesus than a thousand elsewhere.
-Jen Smidt
OUR FEAR OF THE LORD IS SMALL
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. - Proverbs 31:30
Harken back with me to the beginning of (wo)mankind – the Garden of Eden. Our first mother was created from the side of her man by a kind and loving father who placed her smack dab in the middle of paradise. Unfortunately, we women often don’t recognize when we’ve got it good, even if it is surrounding us on all sides.
“When we find ourselves wandering about in the arms of another lover, it is because we have no fear of the Lord.
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Eve was propositioned with a simple question from the snake and her resulting conclusion was, ”God is holding out on me. I deserve better than this. My eyes are delighted and my desire is stirred (Gen 3:6) – I think I’ll take this matter into my own hands.”
Eve had no fear of the Lord. In that moment, she did not:
- Cherish God’s provision
- Trust God’s goodness
- Believe God’s promises
She feared missing out on something she believed she had coming to her more than she feared disobeying God. We are more like Eve than we dare admit. We do not cherish God’s provision (Eph 2) of grace (unmerited favor) and mercy (undeserving pardon). Instead, we take it for granted and decide we deserve something more comfortable and easier than the current strife we are facing.
TRUST HIS PLAN, NOT YOURS
We do not trust his goodness (Psalm 27) but instead devise our own plan for satisfaction or escape, convincing ourselves that the momentary delight is better. We do not believe that his great and precious promises (1 Peter 1) apply to us in our current struggle. They do not seem fast enough, tangible enough to quell our anxious and exhausted ache.
My sisters, we are wrong. We must repent. We must be women who fear the Lord.
WITHOUT FEAR IN GOD, WE CANNOT REST SATISFIED
The fear of the Lord leads to life and whoever has it rests satisfied; (s)he will not be visited by harm. - Proverbs 19:23
Life is found in the shadow of the cross. He gave his all for us and somehow, we still find ourselves devising contingency plans, straying from the place of freedom and forgiveness to seek whatfeels like life found in the arms of another – be it another man, another bite, another drink, another dollar, or another substitute savior.
We are told that whoever has fear of the Lord rests satisfied. When we find ourselves wandering about in the arms of another lover, it is because we have no fear of the Lord. We do not fear a holy and righteous God who has no tolerance for sin – we just want what we want. Right. Now.
Satisfaction comes purely and solely from knowing there is nothing else that compares to living our lives in submission to his glory.
NO HARM IN HIM
As women who fear the Lord, we will not find harm. To a woman who truly loves and fears the Lord, harm is singularly defined as being in a situation where God is not near. We will never find ourselves there. As his daughters, we are never outside of God’s sovereignty, Christ’s righteousness and the Holy Spirit’s comfort.
I know that often harm feels as though it will overtake and crush us. In those moments, we must fight. Ironically, it is in those times that the quiet, gentle spirit of a woman that is pleasing to God (1 Peter 3) must come alive.
FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT THINGS
Fighting might look like actively proclaiming the gospel of Truth to yourself, combating your deceived heart and determined enemy with a vengeance. Fighting may look like full and utter submission, resting in the power and provision of the Lord to sustain you. Harm, as defined by the absence of God, will not touch the woman who fears the Lord.
REST IN REPENTANCE
Repentance begins with God-focused worship. Turn your back from worshipping yourself and the empty places you have sought life. Be enveloped in the forgiving and loving arms of your Father who waits to be gracious to you (Is 30:18). Pray for a marriage that is truly grounded in the gospel. It starts with recognizing that the scariest place to be is away from him and the safest, most peaceful and joyous place to be is holding hands with Dad.
You are my everything, all I need is in you. All I have, all I am is in you.
You are my desire. Come and burn in me.
Surrender yourself completely to Me, says the Lord. Ask and I will show you areas of your soul where you have reserved the right of exercise and control. Those places of thought and feelings will remain a battle ground for the enemy to use against you until they are completely surrendered and…
To proclaim Liberty to the captives - Isaiah 61:1. Designed by Joseph Alessio. Available as a print here.
IN CHRIST
by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]
I believe that justification by faith is the foundational truth of Christianity. You cannot know true rest and peace until you are convinced you can never be made right in God’s eyes by your own works of righteousness. If you don’t understand the perfect righteousness of Christ that is yours by faith, you will lead a life of toil and sweat. You’ll spend your days trying to please God through legalistic, hopeless attempts to establish your own righteousness. But the truth is, you’ll never have any righteousness to bring
to the Lord!
No doubt you are familiar with the passage in Isaiah that says all our
righteousness is as filthy rags in God’s sight (see Isaiah 64:6). This does not
mean God despises our good works — not at all. We should do good works, but if
you think your good works merit your salvation, that they allow you to stand
holy before God, then they are nothing but filthy rags!
You may feel good because of the good works you do and even enjoy a moment of
victory whenever you resist temptation. You feel righteous, that God’s favor is
on you.
The next day, however, you fail. You fall back into a sin and suddenly you lose
all your joy. You think the Lord is angry with you and wonder if you have lost
your salvation.
It is a roller-coaster ride of emotional highs and lows — of up-and-down,
hot-and-cold, sin-and-confess — according to how good or bad you think you
have been on any given day. It’s a life of misery because you are trying to
please God in your flesh!
Beloved, no righteousness of the flesh will ever stand before God. Even the
best people among us, the most moral, godly saints, have fallen short of God’s
glory. None of us can ever be accepted in the Father’s eyes by our good works.
We are accepted by Him only as we are in Christ!
“For ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). When we turn to Jesus
with saving, self-emptying faith, we become one in Christ. Being “in Christ”
means God credits Jesus’ righteousness to us. All our sins are washed away
because of His work, not ours!
Your love covers a multitude of sins.
It’s your blood that covers me
It’s your love that sets me free
It’s your grace that beckons me
Again and again
– Michael Horton. White Horse Inn
– Pastor John Park
“The gospel declares that Jesus came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it–that Jesus met all of God’s perfect conditions on our behalf so that our relationship with God could be unconditional.”
-Tullian Tchividjian
