TWO EMOTIONAL WOMEN!!!

For the last 3 days, I have been EMOTIONAL….yes, I am full of GOOD EMOTIONS. And while I do not know how to express them through this computer screen…one thing is for sure. My EMOTIONS at this point in time can only equal the emotions of these TWO VERY EMOTIONAL WOMEN in the bible. So…I will borrow their words…to express my own emotions as well as theirs!

HANNAH…THE BARREN ONE.

She was married to a wonderful husband but couldn’t bear him children. She was constantly mocked and ridiculed by her co-wife. But finally, God heard her prayer and opened her womb. She became the mother of Samuel…one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.

1 Samuel 2:1-10 Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart REJOICES in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. ‘There is no-one holy like the Lord; there is no-one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. ‘Do not keep talking such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. ‘The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those whose were full hire themselves out for food, but THOSE WHO WERE HUNGRY HUNGER NO MORE. SHE WHO WAS BARREN HAS BORNE SEVEN CHILDREN, but she who has many sons pines away. ‘The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings to the grave and raises up. ‘The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. HE RAISES THE POOR

A TIME TO REMEMBER AND CELEBRATE!

Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday. It will be the 8th birthday we will be CELEBRATING together…as a couple and now, as a family. His birthday is made up of many fine and treasured memories of our times together. The Lord has been gracious…oh, yes…too gracious. Like David, I REMEMBER and in prayer I ask;

‘WHO AM I, LORD GOD, AND WHAT IS MY FAMILY, that You have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in Your sight, O GOD, You have spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. You have looked on me as though I was the most exalted of me, O God. 1 Chronicles 17:16-17

Our past….has been MEMORABLE
Our present...is PALATABLE
Our future…will be INCREDIBLE

I met my husband almost 8 years ago while he was a missionary brother in the Catholic congregation of the CONVENTUAL FRANCISCANS FRIARS...whose founder was ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI in the 12th Century. On that first birthday together, I gave him a little book with beautiful proverbs and sayings unaware that 8 years down the road…some of the words in that little book who come to pass…in ways unimaginable.

THE DEBT OF LOVE

Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing DEBT TO LOVE one another, for he who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law.

By nature right from birth, the human baby has the desire to love and to be loved! The family home, i.e mother and father…and in other cases, siblings are the first contact where the baby begins to understand and function in love. In receiving and giving love, the child develops an emotional bond with the family which gives the child a sense of security and being needed!

Well, as a child, I never had that complete sense of security…because my parents divorced when I was hardly 3 years old. My mother remarried soon after that…and my stepfather substituted the place of my biological father. Over the years, even though I didn’t know it…I held back my love. THE LOVE THAT WAS DUE TO MY NATURAL FATHER. My relationship with my stepfather was more of a formal kind with no particular emotional bond, while I was too much emotionally attached to my mother. But something else was also missing. As a teenage and in my early adulthood, I didn’t care much about men. And even when I got into a relationship…I never came close to surrendering my heart to any man. There was always a safe emotional distance between us.

BE WARNED: HE IS YOUR COVERING

Ruth 3:3-4 Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing-floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and UNCOVER HIS FEET and lie down. He will tell you what to do.

I love the love story of Ruth and Boaz. Of all the Bible love stories, this one means more to me than any other. Why, because it represents my love story! I remember how God put these words in my heart a couple years before I met my husband. Right from the time I was a baby Christian, I knew I had a calling for service. And of course, my calling wasn’t obvious but I served for years within my local church all the same. Then…as time went by and a husband seemed almost out of reach, God put these words in my heart. ‘I WILL GIVE YOU A MINISTRY BUT FIRST I WILL GIVE YOU A HUSBAND FOR YOUR COVERING!

When the Lord spoke those words, they meant little or rather made no sense to me then. A covering? Never before had I heard someone being given a husband for a covering. But…when my husband came along and consequently God made my call to write so crystal clear, then I understood what He meant. In every sense of that word, I am COVERED!

What then is a covering?

FIGHT FOR THE LOVE YOU CAN KEEP

Psalm 46:4-5 There is a river whose streams MAKES GLAD the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.

Two years ago, the bathroom in our rented house went under a major renovation. Of course, while the renovation was underway, our lives for one month were also turned upside down. But…at last, after waiting albeit impatiently, the revolution in our bathroom was more than our expectation. In exchange for black wall tiles and a PVC floor, now we had white stained wall and floor tiles and yes, in place of the shower, we got a bathtub. YES, A BEAUTIFUL BATHTUB. To crown it all, my husband bought us sweet scented candles and bathtub herbs to go with the newness of our bathroom!

Then the day came for me to test our new bathtub. With the tub filled almost to the brim, I jumped into the water and covered myself under the foams as my eyes closed into a relaxed manner. The dim lighting from the candles with its sweet smell fragrance made everything look even more perfect. As I lay there, without a care in the world, I heard these words as clear as noonday. ‘YOU WILL NEVER BE HAPPIER THAN YOU ARE RIGHT NOW.’ Suddenly, my eyes popped opened, a little stranded at what I heard because I knew why the Lord had put those words in my heart.

INFIDELITY IN MARRIAGE

Matthew 5:27 ‘You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman LUSTFULLY has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Let me start here with a true story. Many years ago, when I was a baby Christian, there was a couple who I really admired and looked up to. From outside, their marriage looked so beautiful and genuine and of course, naturally I wanted to have what they had; A marriage built on love, tenderness and a quiet respect. Then one day, my innocence was brutally violated when I found out that he, the husband was having an affair with his wife’s best friend. For days and weeks, I pondered as my heart ached if to tell her what I knew or not. Without the courage to face her, I cut and ran. Oh…you have to forgive me…but that’s what I did! Hoping against hope, I prayed privately for their marriage to find a common ground for healing and restoration but it was never to be. Many years down the road, the marriage came to an END, a very painful end!

And while I still have no answer to the question if I should have intervened then or not, I know that Jesus did intervene in the issue of INFIDELITY. No…he did not give us a foundation for divorce or how we should deal with others infidelity…but rather, when He spoke about adultery, He was addressing the married couples. You see, until you are married…or you are single dealing with a married person, you might not think much about infidelity. INFIDELITY in marriage as Jesus puts it, starts not as we know it…that is, the actual bed act…but rather with A LOOK….yes, THAT LOOK!

A HANDSOME MAN FORGOTTEN

Genesis 39:6-7… Now Joseph was WELL-BUILT and HANDSOME, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

Genesis 40:23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not REMEMBER Joseph; he FORGOT him.

You are a Godly young man…hardworking, handsome and yes, a visionary with the future before you. The favorite of your father among many brothers. Your daddy makes you a coat of many colors which makes your stand out among the crowd. But the worst part of it all is you love to dream…and retell your dreams to a not very enthusiastic audience. YOUR NAME IS JOSEPH.

And while from the outside, everything seems to be going well, things are brewing from the inside. Before you know it…you are a SLAVE in a foreign country. But while you are not free…the things of nature still take their course. Oh…YOU ARE NOW A FINE HANDSOME YOUNG MAN…and a married woman cannot resist you. But you have not changed a bit. Your values are still intact. But this time, from the outside, everything seems to be going wrong, but things from the inside are unusual calm. Before you know it….you are a PRISONER paying for a crime you never committed. But while you are not free…the things of God take their purposed cause. Oh…YOU ARE NOW AN INTERPRETER OF DREAM…and a cupbearer is restored to his position. But your position is unchanged. Your existence is soon FORGOTTEN.

EXTRAVAGANT GRACE

Luke 7:37-38 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with HER TEARS. Then she wiped them with HER HAIR, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

EXTRAVAGANT is defined in my Collins dictionary as: spending money excessively or immodestly; GOING BEYOND USUAL BOUNDS; UNRESTRAINED; Ostentatious or showy; EXORBITANT IN PRICE; overpriced.

Before I start, I wish to pass my well wishes to all my fellow women readers as the world celebrates the INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY today. To all of you out there...YOU ARE LOVED AND PRECIOUS IN HIS EYES.

And with that note, let’s have a look at the story of a woman in Jesus’ earthly life. Its most probable that you have heard or read, or been preached to, the story of the WOMAN WITH AN ALABASTER BOX OF PERFUME. But until yesterday, I had never seen this side of the story before. So here in the UGLY TRUTH.

The woman in the story is a PROSTITUTE. That means…she earned her living by selling her body in exchange for money. Hence, it is most likely that her ALABASTER JAR OF PERFUME was bought with money from her immoral trade. But wait a minute. Why in the world would Jesus accept to be anointed by her knowing how she had obtained the jar of perfume? But here is the WHOLESOME TRUTH.

DANGEROUS VENTURES

Psalm 107:23-30 OTHERS went out on the SEA IN SHIPS; they were merchants on the mighty waters, They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a TEMPEST that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in the peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at THEIR WITS’ END. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. THEY WERE GLAD WHEN IT GREW CALM AND HE GUIDED THEM INTO THEIR DESIRED HAVEN.

We all go through times and phases in our lives when we have to VENTURE into something in order to accomplish or reach a DESIRED END. And while this is true in every area of our lives, there are ventures whereby before we set out to accomplish, we need to carefully sit down and calculated the risks against the gains and weigh out the scales appropriately. That’s what all business people do. But, I am not talking about business…but rather about life – YOUR LIFE!

How often do you sit down and calculate before you set out to reach your desired end? Some of us do, but for most, we set out with our

OF ALL GRACE

1 Peter 5:10 And the God OF ALL GRACE, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have SUFFERED a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

ALL GRACE…the God of ALL GRACE. When I read this verse this morning, something inside of me leaped with joy…yet at the same time, I felt overwhelming frightened because while, I know this scripture verse from inside out…I had missed the most important part of it. Yes, the simple but most powerful words in the whole verse…THE GOD OF ALL GRACE.

If we know the Lord, then we understand GRACE. But no, neither you nor I can claim to understand ALL GRACE. You see, in 2000, the Lord spoke to me a promise through this scripture verse and over the last ten years…I have been living, breathing, dreaming and walking this verse…yet, I hadn’t seen the seeming obvious truth. ALL GRACE means all the