INSPIRATION

Nothing compares to it…..nothing. You know people always talk about the relationship between a dog and its owner.  That special bond that they have with them.  The loyalty and unconditional love that they show you whether you deserve it or not.  People speak about the love between a man and a woman.  Those who are fortunate enough to reach the peak of true love may know something about it.  The wooing which draws them together, that unique bond that forms  between them, the glue that holds them together through thick and through thin.  A love that hangs in there when all others fail, and when situations around them seem to be crumbling.  But even in all of that, nothing compares to a woman and her God.  The indescribable love between the woman and her God that cannot be put into words.  It is so many things all at the same time.

She is grateful! Grateful to God because of what He knows of her.  The bible says, that he that is forgiven much loveth much.  The days He spoke to her spirit and said just the right thing to comfort her and keep her from falling.  The words of the moment she held onto because in that Word is sustenance, it is her very life!  It holds within it that seed of hope, that with time and attention, the watering of it, it will grow.  She worships because she remembered the days that she failed Him, over and over again.  The vows that she made that she would “never do this again”, or “one last time Lord,” and the grace and mercy bestowed upon her that she knows she didn’t deserve.  The words of love spoken during prayer, during the dishes, during the drive in the car, during the time in church, while doing the laundry, during her time of meditation and even in the midst of other surrounding her.  It was Him!  It was His voice which spoke into her darkness and penetrated until the light had come.  Words that would not return to Him void.  She worships because, the day she cried out to Him, He was her refuge, her resting place, her drug of choice, her sweetness of food, that thing she craved above all else.  She knew the futility of things, the vanity surrounding her, the things bombarding her from the world which says, “you must do this”, or “if you don’t do this then…”, or “you are not enough”, yet she learns of His truth which says, “you are enough, in your weakness I am your strength, in your poorness you are now rich, your sufficiency is in Me, because I AM THAT I AM”, and I now realize that I AM THAT I AM is with me.  She is no longer afraid of death because, He is the resurrection and the life!  When she slowly dies inside, or situations die around her, while dreams delay, or when her desires seem to find a resting place in the grave, she is not afraid because she knows in time, He will resurrect it.  He will perfect what concerns her.  In this, she is thankful.  Because all that she knows, that she is to trust in Him, and not man, trust in Him and not in things she owns, she knows that He and only He can bring it about.  

When her husband says no, He says yes.  So she quietly waits on God, in faith, for the change.  When her husband doesn’t satisfy, He satisfies.  When she needs strength to be what she needs to be for her husband, she relies on His strength to do it and takes that easy yoke instead of the hard one.  She pours out her life as a drink offering, only through Him.  In this grace, she remains true to him.  And she stays true to Him. In a season of unmet needs, He meets them, as she cries out. In a season of unexpected disappointment, she listens to Him and worships.

She knows that the first shall become last and the last shall be first.  That beneath her made-up exterior, He sees the bare bones and loves her anyways.  He sees her brokenness and envelops her.  He examines what’s inside her body, that no one sees or cares to see.  He sees not only the flesh, but what lingers in her mind and even her spirit.  He knows her downsitting and her uprising.  He knows her thoughts afar off.  In all these things, she worships.  In all these things, she trusts.  When she sees her insufficiencies, her failings, her strengths, her successes, she knows He makes up the difference and she knows that it was His strength through her that caused it to happen. Through His sovereignty, she reigns.  A woman and her God is no small thing.  At the communion table intaking His blood and eating His flesh, she does this in remembrance of Jesus, Lord and Master.  The relationship is an unbreakable bond.  The prayers He answered, that no one knew she prayed.  Because of this, she weeps during worship.  The blessings He bestowed when she didn’t even ask.  Because of this, she smiles with tears running.  When she lifts her hands, no one knows why she’s lifting them.  When she sings that little psalm, no one knows why she’s singing it or even what it took for her to sing out the words she’s singing.  It’s all inside of her, the bare bones, this He knows.  I AM THAT I AM, that is His name! And in all this, He is faithful.  And in all this, He loves her anyways.  And this is why she worships……….

A Woman And Her God © Written by Tiffany Parr, during a time of worship and prayer 2/22/16.

WHAT PRIDE IS IN US?

As I think about the life we live, I think about how being submitted to God means laying down our pride.  Many times we don't realize how much pride is in us until certain situations arise that show us what percentage of pride remains.  See pride as a percentage.  You may be filled with 100% pride, 85%, 65% 50% or 25%.  The pride in us causes us to deviate from God's plan many times and delay the blessings He seeks to bestow upon us.

NAAMAN’S PRIDE

Take Naaman (in my estimation 85% pride), (2 Kings 5:1-14) he was the captain of the army of the King of Aram and was a valiant soldier, yet he had leprosy and desperately wanted it removed.  When he went to the prophet Elisha for healing, Elisha told him to dip seven times in the Jordan River, but that river was one of the dirtiest rivers around, and he wanted to go to a cleaner place.  He challenged Elisha by displaying his first instincts to tell Elisha what he thought he should do in order to get his healing instead of just obeying the prophet and going with his program. First, he was offended because Elisha sent his servant out to tell him this (and didn’t come out himself!), and second he was disappointed because of how he was supposed to be healed. He could’ve been healed a lot faster if he hadn’t delayed his miracle by arguing.

ELIJAH’S HUMILITY

The example of Elijah (in my estimation 5% pride), in 1 Kings 17, shows us of his humility in obeying God when He instructed him to go to the Brook Cherith where he would drink of the brook, and the ravens would be feeding him bread and meat morning and evening.  How odd for God to tell him to go there, and allow the ravens (the dirtiest bird), to bring him something he would consume!  But he didn’t utter a word, he simply obeyed.  And when the brook dried up, he listened to God to see where he was to go next.  He wasn’t constantly in anxiety asking God “What’s going to happen when this brook dries up since there is no rain? What am I going to do next? How can I eat from what these dirty birds bring me?” Then, God told him to “Arise and go to Zarephath, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you (1 Kings 17:9)”.  After that instruction he did not say, “A widow? How is a widow going to provide for me? God why would you choose a widow and not a family of means?”  None of these things came out of Elijah’s mouth.  He walked in his faith and obeyed God.  He knew that in his mouth, he had the answer…...

PAUL’S THORN IN THE FLESH

Paul’s thorn (in my estimation the prevention of 60-70% pride, LOL) was given to him to prevent his heart from being lifted up due to being caught up to the third heaven, and the multiple revelations he was experiencing (2 Corinthians 12:7). A messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him and Paul’s thorn in the flesh kept him humble and dependent upon God.  And we don’t quite know what Paul’s thorn was entirely, which tells me that sometimes God uses things that other people may know nothing about to keep up humble.  He may use situations and things that are not overtly known to those around us. God can get very, very creative in His attempt to keep us humble!

JESUS CHRIST, THE ULTIMATE EXAMPLE

Then lastly, Christ Himself!  (in my estimation 0% pride, he was perfect) I’m always amazed at how Jesus had Judas traveling with Him all three years, and He knew he was a thief and was stealing from him on a regular basis, yet Jesus did not remove him from his job as the one handling the money, nor speak against him until the time of his betrayal.  How many of us could have allowed someone around us, and not “let them know we know” what’s going on, and let them think they’ve got the better of us? First, at the last Supper, Jesus indirectly exposed him, then later Jesus spoke to him saying, “What you do, do quickly!” (St. John 13:27) Following this was the kiss of betrayal(St. Matthew 26: 48-49).  And with the unbearable guilt Judas carried around with him that he sold Jesus into the hands of sinners for 30 shekels of silver, he ended up committing suicide.  Following that, Jesus never mentioned that man’s sin!

In summary, the bible says “Let us examine ourselves to see whether we be in the faith(2 Corinthians 13:5),” David says (Psalm 51:7, 10), “Purge me with hyssop, create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me”.  We should take inventory in our souls, to strive to walk in the manner the Lord calls us to walk in. On a daily basis, we must ask Him to forgive our sins, create in us a right spirit and walk in humility. Let’s try to keep the pride in us at the lowest percent possible!

During my prayer time, I meditated on the great man of God, named Elijah who was a prophet.  He prayed fervently for it not to rain (1 Kings 18: 36-46) and it did not rain for the space of three and half years. A showdown occurred proving whose god was better, Baal or God.  And of course, God displayed His greatness by answering by fire! After challenging King Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, Elijah prayed again for the rain to return. But when it was time for the rain to return, it did not come back right away.

Elijah put his face between his knees and prayed for the rain to return and told Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower." (1 Kings 18:41) He said this even though he had not seen any natural proof of this.  Then he told his servant to go an check to see if it looked like any rain was coming, but he came back and said, "nothing". So he sent him again and six times he replied, "nothing".  But on the seventh time he said, "I see a cloud as small as a man's hand and is coming up from the sea." (I Kings 18:44).  Soon after the sky grew black with clouds and wind and there was a heavy shower.

DISCOURAGEMENT CAN SET IN

I share this because I often think of how discouraged we can get when we don't see things happen as quickly as we'd like.  We want things in our time, almost immediately, without demonstrating any faith or expectation.  Our generation is a generation of instant coffee, drive-through windows and measuring the speed of our internet.  We are hard-wired, because of our environment, not to wait for anything too long.  Elijah persevered through his prayer to see his word fulfilled, at God's word.  He demonstrated expectation by not giving up and sending his servant over and over again to go and check the sky to see what it looked like.  What do you think was going on in the mind of the servant as he kept coming back with a disappointing answer?  What type of facial expressions do you think he had on his face, that Elijah had to witness?  Elijah had to ignore this and put forth the same faith he had initially when he stopped the rain in the first place.  And he expected the rain to come back and it did.

WHEN WE DON'T SEE OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED

Many times when we don't see our prayers answered right away, it is because a principality in the second heaven is fighting it, or holding it back.  It's not because God didn't want it to come forth for you, or because God was holding out on you.  We see in the book of Daniel chapter 10, that Daniel prayed and fasted as well, and he was waiting for an answer from God.  He was praying so fervently and persevering in prayer, so much so, that God had to send an angel down to explain what was happening and explain the delay! Here, the curtains are pulled back, and we get a glimpse into what happens in the second heaven and the war that goes on. In Daniel 10: 12, the messenger angel shared, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words."  Now, this has been one of the most comforting scriptures to me down through the years, because we can easily have the perspective that God doesn't care about our struggles or our pain, but this shows He does, and that there are seemingly unexplainable reasons, why we don't see what we want to see.  He says the prince of Persia was opposing him for twenty-one days, and he even had to call on the archangel Michael to help him fight.

DON'T GIVE UP

To sum up, I say all this to say, don't give up!  I don't know who I'm speaking to right now or who exactly will be blessed by this, but just remember to keep your head up because your day is coming.  Your dreams can be fulfilled if you can submit them to God and have faith in Him.  He knows the end from the beginning, and the best thing you can do to help yourself is draw closer to Him and learn His ways and his heart.

If this was a blessing to you, please let me know by commenting below.  And if you have any prayer requests, please submit them via the contact form on this site, or email Tiffanyslocjewels@gmail.com.  If you would like to become born again or learn more about what I believe, please see the article, Sinner's prayer.

Many blessings,

Tiffany

WHAT I BELIEVE

I am a born-again Christian, and I believe in the Trinity (Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit), and I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins, shed His blood, and after three days was raised again.  After he met with His disciples, He left them with the great commission and then arose to heaven and now sits on the right hand of the Father.  I believe in a real heaven and a real hell, and I believe that the bible is the infallible, inherent word of God. I believe in the gifts of the spirit, the five-fold ministry, and that God still speaks to us and performs healings, miracles in this day.  I believe in the power of prayer and the God does answer prayer.

SINNER'S PRAYER

If you would like to become born again, please pray this prayer with me based on (Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.)

"Dear Father, I come to you a sinner in need of a Savior.  I believe in Jesus Christ, that He came down from heaven for me, and was born of a woman, Mary, died for me on the cross to save me from my sins. I believe that He was raised on the third day for my justification.  I renounce sin and submit myself to You."

Congratulations! You are now saved!  If you would like more resources as to how you can grow in your Christian walk, please email me at Tiffanyslocjewels@gmail.com, or via the contact form on this site.

Photo posted below is to show that even the strongest of men kneel down and pray and cry out to God, our Father.

photo credit: Pittsburgh Steelers 2011