So now what? I have seen many women, myself included, ask that question this time of year. We set the stage. We gave our best performance. The presents have been unwrapped. The guests have come and gone. Another year draws to a close. The only thing left on our plate is to clean up the mess, and put back all the pieces. The world wants us to view this task as miserable consequence of how worthless we are at keeping it all together. But, what if we viewed this task through divine eyes with joyful expectation? "Rejoice in the Lord, always; again I will say, rejoice." Philippians 4:4 NASB. What we do now is receive the gift that never stops giving. We allow the gift of our Savior to clean up the mess on the inside, and put back the pieces of our transformed hearts.
Here is a small part of our last teaching in 1 Thessalonians:
"Just as you know how we were exhorting, and encouraging, and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory," 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NASB
"Ladies, do we live in the Truth that we are daughters of the King? The enemy is prowling and ready to deceive us in this area. He has an assignment to get us to to doubt that our Father really means what He says to us. He is just waiting for us to continue to bite the apple! We are not going to combat the lies if we do not know the Truth! We must be in the Word every day to understand HIs promises. We must stay in communion with Him through prayer and praise. We must let HIm encourage and instruct us through the Spiritual guides he has placed in our lives. We must forgive! Yes, this is crucial. Our earthly father will fall short of the divine design of fatherhood. This is a huge barrier for us when "relying on God in glad submission". We allow our relationship with our earthly father, to negatively impact our relationship with our heavenly Daddy. We hold on to the wounds our fathers inflict (verbal assaults, physical abuse, anger outbursts, breaking trust, lying, withholding affection, and insert here) like valuable treasures that validate why we will never be good enough for our Father's love. Let us stop embracing the lies! If we don't we are just leaving Jesus nailed to the cross, and never experiencing the resurrected life that comes from our Father's love. Allow HIm to love you. Allow HIm to heal the hurt. Allow Him to fight for you on the hard days. Allow Him to fight for you on the days when, with a perfect balance of authority and affection, He reminds us we were not meant to live without Him. Let us forgive and give the wounds of our earthly fathers over to the cross; once and for all. Let us cry out to our "Abba Father" in thanksgiving for adopting us into HIs eternal Glory as His princess daughters."
So now what? We will rejoice in the confidence of our calling "into HIs own Kingdom and glory. We will stand firm in our place of honor, and allow the Holy Spirit to clean the mess. We will cherish our gift, and choose to live in HIs everlasting presence. We will not allow ourselves to feel let down, and take every thought captive to be lifted up. We will begin a new year as reverently living lives of ladies of valor.
May God Bless our faithfulness.
Love,
Tracey
