Womanhood...again!

So I have been busy studying these days for a lesson I am to teach on biblical womanhood to my college girls. I have been mostly studying about how our design as women has been corrupted, first by the Fall, and then over the past centuries of feminist infiltration. In the midst of my studying, I also have been taking a class at my church on redeemed womanhood. It was an eight-week course taught by various women in the church who shared about woman's creation design as it was intended to be and how to practically live it out in our daily lives. As I was thinking back on these lessons, conversations I have had in recent days, and my notes for this upcoming lesson, I was considering how quickly we women rail against being taught these things. We say we are not, and that we are eager to learn them, but yet when the hard truths are revealed we often cringe and rise up in our spirit against them. It is our sin that leads us to try and give a different meaning to scriptural principles. We want to mold them into our own sinful mindsets, saying right along with Eve, "Did God really say...?" It is our rebellion that leads us to respond before we reflect. Hard truths must be digested, meditated on and prayed over. I am learning that I am way too quick to question or argue a point rather than receive it from the respectable teacher or preacher who has spoken it, immediately trying to find a scripture that will validate my feelings rather than taking my resistance before the Lord in confession, repentance and then pleading with Him to mold me into His likeness.

Jesus

In my studies through the book of Matthew, one of the most meaningful things that has been pointed out has been the plethora of names for Jesus. I copied them into my journal and look at it from time to time as a reminder of all the character qualities that are represented in just a name. When someone says a name, it is amazing to think of all that can be conveyed in that one word.
First and Last
Ancient of Days
Anointed One
Priest
Wonderful Counselor
Prince of Peace
Good Shepherd
Bishop of Souls
Light
Tree of Life
Spring
Rock Redeemer
Beginning and End
King of Kings
Messiah
Mighty God
Almighty Lord
Great Shepherd
Lamb Slain
Light of the World
Word of Life
Way, Truth and Life
Bridegroom
Savior
Alpha and Omega
Lord of Lords
Prophet
Only Wise God
Everlasting Father
Door
Chief Shepherd
Logos
Light of Life
Bread of Life
Resurrection and Life
Beloved
Head

Biblical femininity for the single woman

I have been asked several times in recent days how a single young woman is to display properly biblical femininity even if she does not marry or bear children. This is often a difficult question, as I certainly have not made a conscious decision to forgo marriage or children. In God's providence, He simply has not brought a man into my path who either lines up with my spiritual goals, or who is interested in pursuing me for the purpose of establishing a family. I too, like many young women, desire to live out my creation design as a wife and mother. However, I cannot force or create a relationship that has not been ordered by a good and benevolent God. I may write several further posts on this topic, as I continue to study and meditate on it. For now, though, I would like to share a quote from a book that has been a huge encouragement to me in my pursuit of living out the call to redeemed womanhood:

"A woman can accentuate her femininity or she can detract from it, but she cannot change it. Our femininity is a gift of grace from a loving God. It is not only in the context of marriage that we can express our femininity. We were created feminine; that is not a state conferred in marriage. We do not wait until we reach the marriage altar to give full expression to our femininity. Though it looks slightly different when we are single than when we are married, all women are called to display their femininity in a variety of relationships." (Carolyn Mahaney)

In future posts, I will delve more deeply into the manner in which single women can express their femininity. Because we most certainly do, and we either express in ways that glorify God and validate His creation design to a lost world, or we detract from it by exemplifying a lethargic and even detrimental vision of femininity.

Great new music!

I came across this twin-brother duo a few weeks back through a link on Facebook. I bought their album on ITunes and it has greatly ministered to me. Check it out and be encouraged!

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

I have been doing a slow study through the book of Matthew since about a month ago. I got interested in this book again after rereading the Sermon on the Mount on an airplane ride home. For some reason it hit me and impacted me severely during those couple of hours in ways it never has before. So I decided I wanted to study it in further depth, but figured I would most benefit from studying the entire book. Little did I know what a treasure I was in for. I am only in chapter two, and have been spending several days on small passages. A dear friend gave me a commentary on the book of Matthew by James Mongtgomery Boice (it has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year!) and it has been pivotal in my study.

Last week as I was going through chapter 2, verses 1-12, Boice spent a good deal of time discussing the three gifts that the wise men brought. Now this may be old news to some people, but for me, a careful study of the intricate meaning behind these gifts took my breath away! Firstly, gold has always been a significant and expected gift for a king. It was a sign of their rule, and many great leaders were buried with their golden treasures. Right away, this connection points to Christ's Kingship even as a tiny baby. Secondly, the incense was especially meaningful, as it was used in the temple worship service to make the offering fragrant. This too attaches particular meaning to the Babe, as it points to Christ as our Great High Priest. Christ is Who makes our worship acceptable, a "sweet smelling aroma" floating up to the Father in Heaven. There is nothing in our worship that makes it pleasing other than its direct flow from the righteous work of Christ on our behalf. Finally, the myrrh. Typically a new baby would never have received this gift. It would have been considered offensive and rude, as myrrh was used as an embalming agent for burials. But in relationship to Christ, it was a most significant gift, as it points to His death on the cross for sinners.

William Barclay notes, "Gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, myrrh for one that was to die - these were the gifts of the wise men and even at the cradle of Christ, they foretold that He was to be the true King, the perfect High Priest, and in the end, the Supreme Saviour of them."

Boice then sums up this passage by admonishing the reader to offer Him our gifts: "myrrh, a symbol of the spiritual death of your sin, dying to self and living for Christ; incense, a symbol of your worship, which is to offer your life to Christ as a your sacrifice; and gold, a symbol of you acknowledgement of the right of Christ to rule in your life"!