Wellspring Women’s Ministry Blog and Online Community

Whatever happened to the “hazy, lazy days of summer?  I think they ended for me the day I became a grandmother!  I remember when my four children were growing up and school was out during the summer and most days were spent sleeping late, just being a around home and staying up later than usual.  Now, with no children at home and 11 living grandchildren and 1 great grandson, I must go to bed early so I can get up early and be ready for the parade of grandchildren that will bless my home all summer long!

The privilege of living close enough to all of our grandchildren so that we can be a fairly regular part of their lives is awesome!  Three of them live an hour and 45 minutes away, three of them live 30 minutes away and the rest have always lived just a few miles from us.  The Lord has blessed Wayne and I in such a way that we have been able to have close relationships with most of them and many opportunities for Godly input. 

Our grandchildren range in age from 23 down to 4 and our great grandson is 1 with a little brother on the way!  Here are just a few of our summer activities.  Our oldest granddaughter, Cathy, is home with her little one while her husband is deployed.  What an absolutely wonderful opportunity to be with them at least 4 months out of each year.  We take an exercise ballet class together with her mother every Monday.

Her brother, Michael, 18, has been away at Nation Guard boot camp all summer.  We have missed him and we are looking forward to his graduation, August 21st, in Ft. Jackson, SC.  He will leave immediately for Arizona for 6 more months of training.  Our family is ever changing.

Our next in age is Ashleigh, 17.  She has been on a missions trip to Scotland with TeenMania for the past month.  It, too, is her first time far away from home.  We are missing her like crazy!  She returns on August 6th.

Her sister Melinda, 15, has been away at War Cry and a Christian music camp near Ashville with Marion Jones and her family.  She has returned and is continuing to finish up her home school Algebra class with Granddaddy’s tutelage.

One of my favorite events of summer is VBS.  I always attended as a child, my children always went and now the grandchildren.  It feels like I went from learning as a child in VBS to teaching VBS as an adult.  We had our son’s 3 children with us all week for that, Lucas, 8, Strider, 7, and Emma, 4.  That week also included a trip to the Museum of Life and Science, working at our church food pantry, treasure hunts and getting sprayed with the hose.  Our blessing cup was overflowing at the close of that week!

Our 12 year old, Rachael, came next and we did her favorite thing, “shopping for her birthday present.”  It was also a week spent with cousins and sewing 2 new skirts.

Strider, 6, was next.  He had a good time playing with Gracie,5, his cousin that comes to my house almost every day.  He also was a hard worker at our food pantry.  The Lord gave us some precious one-on-one time while he was here, which is what I really look forward to.

Next to arrive will be Michael D.,10, and Lucas, 8.  They are best buds and really enjoy playing together and having a nice break from their siblings.  Treasure hunts, playing in their fort and sword fighting (all with Grandmother included) will be a few of their activities.

We will still have 2 more to work in for their one-on-one time with us, Hannah, 6, and Emma, 4.  Playing with American Girl dolls, tea parties and dress-up (all with Grandmother included) will keep them very busy.

I am reminded of 2 scriptures as I contemplate the wonderful privilege we have of spending time with our grandchildren even though, sometimes it is exhausting and I have put on a few pounds from the PB&J sandwiches and cookies that I seem unable to resist, our prayers for more grace are always answered.

Psalm 22:30-31 – “Posterity will serve Him; future generations will be told about the Lord.  They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn – for He as done it.”

Psalm 102:12 – “But you, O Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.”

The opportunity to pass on the Lord’s renown to the next generation is a gift I am very grateful for.

Please look up and read these passages too:

Deut. 6:4-9; Deut. 11:19-21; Prov. 17:6.

I hope that each of you has as much fun and as many blessings as I have had this summer!    Love, Saundra

We had such a good family vacation this year! As you have probably read from Jessica’s post last week, our entire family (all 14 of us!) spent a week at Holden Beach under one roof together — and we all still love one another!! Incredibly, we all want to do it again next summer. Some even want to extend the time to 2 weeks! Amazing, but true!! We had 8 adults and 6 children under 10 in one big house with 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and multiple porches including a lovely sunporch. The weather was beautiful — not a drop of rain all week! — and the kids were great — we do have delightful grandchildren! — and don’t we all desire a sense of closeness in our family?

As the grandma of the group, I had the ultimate pleasure of spending lots of time with my grandchildren. I had individual time with each one and also time playing together with them in small groups. We put together puzzles (really an excuse for cuddle-on-the-lap time), read books out loud (more cuddling), and drew and colored pictures together. We also sat in the front porch swing and talked (while cuddling, of course), played on the beach and went out for ice cream. Have you ever cuddled a chocolate-covered 3 year old? It was wonderful!

I also got to watch my children parent their own children. What an intense pleasure that is! Both couples who have children are such diligent, loving parents! They work beautifully together as a couple to discipline and shape the characters of their children. I was impressed again and again with the patience and faithfulness and love it takes to be a good parent. The children, of course, tend to misbehave or have a crisis when the parents are involved with something else. Mom starts playing a game with the other women and dad picks up his Louis Lamour novel and almost immediately at least one child has a melt-down. It’s as though the parents’ restfulness signals the children’s misbehavior! One of the parents has to put down his (or her) own pleasurable pursuit in order to deal with the child. The truth of Proverbs 3:12 is demonstrated vividly: “For whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.” Only a great and unselfish love in the heart of a parent for his child can sustain the demand of faithfulness required by parenting!

This scenario recurred so frequently last week that another truth began to hit me: Father God was using parenting to shape the character of the parents as much as He was using it to shape the character of the children! The parents, because they love their children, are faithfully disciplining them. But, at the same time, because God loves them all so much, the hearts of the parents are also being stretched and expanded in the process. The capacity to love must constantly grow and be replenished in the parents or they will never be able to sustain the kind of faithfulness and consistency that is required to shape the character of a child.

The image of God being like the dairyman who squeezes and tugs and squeezes and tugs until He gets the last drop of milk from the cow comes to mind, doesn’t it! God’s dealings with us are not wasted on anyone who is involved in the process! Parent and child are equally impacted by the process. (Even an observant Nana gets taught and blessed as well!)

Many years ago, my husband as a young pastor had to go to a father in the church whose children needed discipline. His little sons were terrorizing the other children in Sunday School and we needed for the father to correct the situation. The father confessed that he could not bring himself to discipline his children. “I’m afraid they won’t love me if I correct them,” he said. “I never knew my own father and I want my children to know that I love them.” Michael showed him the scripture I just quoted but he was unable to see it and his children grew up having to “learn things the hard way” because they had not had a father who was willing to instruct them.

Years later, when one of the sons was grown, he came to see us for some counsel. “My father loves God,” he said, “but I know he has never loved me. Is there something wrong with me that my father can’t love me?”

“What makes you think your father doesn’t love you?” we asked.

“I know he didn’t care about me growing up because he never took time to correct me or discipline me,” the young man answered. “He let us children run wild and misbehave and even talk back to our mother without ever saying a word to us. Yet he was in church every Sunday and served the Church and the Lord in any way he could. I know he doesn’t love me because he never spanked me or corrected me in any way.”

This young man was suffering as an adult because his father had refused to discipline him as a child. He felt rejected by his father, the very thing that his father had feared and the very fear that had caused the father to neglect disciplining his son. How ironic! God’s ways are not our ways, are they?

I rejoice that my grandchildren are being consistently and lovingly disciplined by their parents. That correction is already bearing good fruit in the young lives of their children. If you are raising young children, I hope you are pressing into God for that heart expansion that makes the parenting kind of love possible!

And if you are a grandma like me, I hope God is blessing you with lots of cuddle time with your grandchildren! As for me, I can hardly wait for next summer!

Hi everyone!  The entire Cotten clan has been at the beach this week and it has been great.  I don’t think we have ever done this before, where we’ve gotten ALL of us together at once in the same place for an entire week!  We’ve all needed this rest and relaxation so much, and I for one would like to propose that we do this next year too, except for TWO weeks!!!!  We’ll see.  For now I just wanted to give you a quick update with a few pictures.  Not the best quality pictures because they were taken with my computer, but it is a little glimpse into our world this week.

Here is the view from the front of our house…

One of the views from our house

A picture Ben took on his iPhone of the beach at dusk…

Walking on the beach at dusk

Some of what the kids have been doing (a rare chill moment!)

Afternoon Chillaxation

Gloria with Eliana

Hope everyone has a great Independence Day!!!

Jessica

Have you all read the “5 love languages” book by Gary Chapman?  (I highly recommend it, I read it the first time years ago and continue to reap the benefits of its wisdom.)  My husband, Thom,  and I found out that our love languages are a little different.  He ranked quality time first and I ranked words of affirmation.   Touch  was second for both of us though and we supposed that was a good thing!    We both ranked gifts last and service just above last.  

okay… last summer Thom spent a lot of time painting the outside trim of our house. (I only helped him on one of the four weekends that he spent doing it, and then only for a few hours….was it my fault he picked weekends that I was busy?  or that the temperature was in the 90’s??   Yes, I thought you would see it my way!)  Also, unlike the lady in the “Love and Respect” videos, I didn’t sit outside and watch him do it either… which would have been quality time I suppose.   

 When he finally finished, he came into the kitchen and informed me that it was all done.  To which I replied, “Great!”  But I guess my response was not what he was hoping for… he looked at me and wistfully said, “Gee, I wish service was your love language.”  Which made me laugh out loud and I told him I would work on it.

Ever since then we have looked for opportunities to do acts of service for one another..large and small things…out of a motivation of love.  It is amazing how much it makes you appreciate one another simply by acknowledging that the other person didn’t have to do the dishes (or whatever) but that they did it because they love you!  Of course, we are constantly saying to one another now (no matter which end of the giving/receiving we find ourselves on), “well, you know that service is my love language!”  

Try on some of the other love languages…do it deliberately…do it because Jesus loves us in every one of them and we should be able to speak them all (and receive them all too!!)  It is pretty fun I think.

Which one are you?

Quality Time?  Acts of Service?  Words of Affirmation?  Gifts?  Touch?  

blessings,

Sheri

When our oldest son turned 13 we decided he was old enough to handle pet ownership. So for his 13th birthday we got him a dog, a black Chow/Springer Spaniel mix. Our son was thrilled with his dog. He named the dog Frodo Baggins Jones.

We have a nice fenced in back yard that the dog enjoyed very much. Frodo was thrilled with the yard. He had great fun chasing/terrifying the squirrels, lazing in the sun, playing with the children when they were outside. In the evenings, we would let him in the house in the mud room. Life was good.

When Frodo was around 3 years old, all of a sudden, the yard Frodo loved so much didn’t seem that great. He started jumping the fence and running around the neighborhood. We scolded him but that didn’t seem to matter. We started putting him on a chain when he’d run off but that too didn’t deter him. We talked to everyone and tried just about everything that was recommended to keep the dog in the fence. We even got another dog, Baron, for companionship. Nothing worked. The momentary freedom Frodo had when he jumped the fence was worth it to him to pay the price of punishment. Eventually, we had to get a very strong, very long chain and choker collar in which the dog has to stay on when he is outside. It’s sad, the dog has a decent sized yard that he could enjoy but instead he’s on a leash.

One day I was talking to one of my children who, at the time, was going through some rebellion. The Lord gave me the following lesson from the dog which I shared with my child and now you. Frodo has boundaries that have been given to him by us, his owners. If he would stay within those boundaries, he is protected, safe and has the freedom to enjoy all of the space he has. Unfortunately, Frodo doesn’t think these boundaries are good enough. He wants to roam “free”. What he doesn’t see is that instead of momentary freedom, if he lived in obedience, that obedience would afford him greater freedom.

God gives us all boundaries to live within. When we live within them, we are free to run and truly live. When we choose to go outside God’s will, His boundaries for our lives, we actually put ourselves in chains. Those chains can look different. They can come by way of sin and its consequences, woundedness, loss of relationship with God and the list goes on and on. God longs for our hearts. If our hearts desire is to serve Him, those boundaries won’t be seen as walls rather as a place of security.

When our oldest son turned 13 we decided he was old enough to handle pet ownership. So for his 13th birthday we got him a dog, a black Chow/Springer Spaniel mix.    Our son was thrilled with his dog.   He named the dog Frodo Baggins Jones. 

We have a nice fenced in back yard that the dog enjoyed very much.  Frodo was thrilled with the yard. He had great fun chasing/terrifying the squirrels, lazing in the sun, playing with the children when they were outside.  In the evenings, we would let him in the house in the mud room.  Life was good. 

When Frodo was around 3 years old, all of a sudden, the yard Frodo loved so much didn’t seem that great.  He started jumping the fence and running around the neighborhood.  We scolded him but that didn’t seem to matter.  We started putting him on a chain when he’d run off but that too didn’t deter him. We talked to everyone and tried just about everything that was recommended to keep the dog in the fence. We even got another dog, Baron, for companionship.  Nothing worked. The momentary freedom Frodo had when he jumped the fence was worth it to him to pay the price of punishment. Eventually, we had to get a very strong, very long chain and choker collar in which the dog has to stay on when he is outside.  It’s sad, the dog has a decent sized yard that he could enjoy but instead he’s on a leash.

      One day I was talking to one of my children who, at the time, was going through some rebellion. The Lord gave me the following lesson from the dog which I shared with my child and now you.  Frodo has boundaries that have been given to him by us, his owners.  If he would stay within those boundaries, he is protected, safe and has the freedom to enjoy all of the space he has.  Unfortunately, Frodo doesn’t think these boundaries are good enough.  He wants to roam “free”.  What he doesn’t see is that instead of momentary freedom, if he lived in obedience, that obedience would afford him greater freedom.

  God gives us all boundaries to live within.  When we live within them, we are free to run and truly live.  When we choose to go outside God’s will, His boundaries for our lives, we actually put ourselves in chains.  Those chains can look different.  They can come by way of sin and its consequences, woundedness, loss of relationship with God and the list goes on and on.  God longs for our hearts.  If our hearts desire is to serve Him, those boundaries won’t be seen as walls rather as a place of security.

I want to tell you about my friend, Elizabeth Krynski.  We have had quite an adventure together this past week.  Elizabeth will be 93 in February.  She lives alone in her own home near downtown Durham.  She moved there with her beloved John about 40 years ago.  Elizabeth uses a walker to steady her slowing pace but she is still driving and loves to tell about her trip to the DMV last year to renew her license.  “They are so nice there”, she says, “they kept telling me what a great job I was doing.  You know, they love to see you do well, there.”

Elizabeth was a school teacher and still loves to read and teach.  We have had many good conversations about books and the wonderful experiences of 93 good and healthy years.  She is incisive and articulate and a pleasure to converse with.  She is a committed member of our Women of Titus Two group and has always brought an interesting perspective to our discussions.

I count it a privilege to have been there in 1989, when she and John visited our church for the first time and received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour after Paul Gordon gave an invitation.  Paul and John were friends from political activities and shared the same Jewish heritage.  She tells the story about how John took her hand and led her to the front to answer the call.  She said it was so unlike John that she wasn’t sure what was happening.  Of course, the Lord knew exactly what was happening!  He called John home to heaven 3 days later.  Elizabeth says, “John didn’t have much time to practice being a Christian.”  She loved and highly respected her husband of 37 years.  He was the only child of Polish-Jewish immigrants who came to this country to escape the horrors of the Nazi invasion of Poland during WWII.  He was a professor of Slavic languages at Duke University.  She still misses him and talks about him frequently.  Did I forget to mention that Elizabeth is a published poet?  Here is my favorite poem she has written about John:

To M.J.K.

Your names flash through my years

Like white milestones

Measuring off my life.

Magnus, John, Jan,

Janek, Johnny, Janeczeck,

and nicknames -

Cryptic, private

not made for

Cold linear print.

My own life rests

On the scaffold of your names.

I cling onto the hook of J

Stand on the slant of K

Seek shelter in the tents of M

Your names

Like a flurry of

“cartes des visites”

drift through my life.

I was also privileged to be at Elizabeth’s baptism in the Atlantic Ocean in 1989.  What a joyous moment seeing her face as she emerged from the water!  Now that you know a little bit about her, let me tell you about our adventure.

Elizabeth had arrived at the church last Friday for the WOTT meeting and was attempting to remove her walker from the trunk of her car.  She stepped back, lost her balance and fell face down on the asphalt.  Her fall resulted in two lost front teeth, 9 stitches in her lip, bruised hands and scratched glasses.  There was so much blood that we were all a bit alarmed!  Again, the Lord granted me another privilege concerning Elizabeth’s life – we went to the ER together for a long ordeal and to the dentist to have one of her cracked teeth removed (she still has all of her own teeth – now minus 2).  She has yet to complain!?!  I was being mentored in the art of “attitude while growing old gracefully!”  Of course, she was a bit worried and every now and then a little fear would overtake her, but she would just shake it off and remember all the good things God had done for her.  Always, thankful for the smallest thing and especially that she did not break any bones!  I have spent a night and a couple of days with her, as have some of the other women, until she regains her confidence and starts to mend.  What a treat to beable to sit with her and talk and laugh about so many things; to be able to serve this incredibly positive woman.  I have been so blessed and encouraged about gratitude, humility, courage and determination.

“Thank you, Lord, please continue to bless and heal my dear friend, Elizabeth.”

I remember it was a few days after the Wellspring board members’ retreat in April. We met at Gloria’s for the weekend for our ‘annual checkup’ – a review of Wellspring activities from the past year and a time of seeking God for the year ahead. We prayed for each other and we worked diligently on the upcoming conference for 2008, including the workshops. (And yes, the Ya-Ya Sisters DID have fun!)

A few days later while driving to work I was praying about facilitating the single Mom’s workshop, especially how to build upon last year’s first introduction of it. Last year we had an open forum, sharing style – where women were encouraged to send in topics they wanted to discuss as a group. It was encouraging to have women ready to talk and share. It was a time of open emotions and soul-bearing honesty but before we knew it time was called.  This year I knew I wanted to keep the sharing style but I also wanted to dig into the Scriptures as well as allow time for personal ministry and prayer.  So, I’m driving to work and praying about all of this and suddenly I’m impressed with two things simultaneously – the first was remembering a few single Moms talk about how they felt a little ‘second class’, and the other was the epitome of womanhood – the Proverbs 31 woman.

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with that woman – well, maybe love/hate is a little too strong – how about hopeful/frustrated, eager/intimidated, you get the idea. I was jealous to be her but didn’t know if I could ever live up to her when I WAS married. When I became a single Mom I ‘put her to the side,’ (I must say with a ‘Whew!’ because I felt it took me off the hook – after all the implications were of a married women and I no longer fit into that category.)  But that day driving to work I knew we were one in the same – no matter the circumstances we found ourselves in and no matter how I viewed myself.  Specifically, God said: “a woman is a woman; a mother is a mother; and My daughter is My daughter. Circumstances will change but not your identity, not My Love for you, not my Plan for you and not your standing as My heir with My Son, Jesus.”  To say I was a fumbling, bumbling mess – going at least 60 miles an hour – is no understatement.  To my credit I did at least slow down a little.

Since then God and I have been looking at Ms. Proverbs 31 in a new way. I invite you to embrace the plan of God for your life whatever the situation– and if you are a single Mom, then this is the plan for you at this very moment.  Circumstances do and will change – sometimes in the blink of an eye. No matter how we came to be in the Land of Single Moms – it more than likely came with sadness and wounding. But it DOES NOT change who we are in Christ.  God wants you healed and full of faith for your life and the lives of your children.

Come and be encouraged in the Lord: May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20.

Love you and see you soon-Vikki

We have talked about this idea of the “mother heart of God”, the passion with which we pray and where it comes from and not allowing it to cross over into the sin of anxiety and worry.  Now let’s look at another woman just like us from a long time ago.

There are seasons in a woman’s life when the intensity to have children can be almost unbearable.  When I read 1 Samuel, I see such a desperate woman in Hannah.  “In  bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord.” (1 Sam. 1:10).  “And she made a vow, saying, ‘O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life . . .” (1 Sam. 1:11).

The Lord did give her a son and she named him Samuel saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.“  After the boy was weaned she took him and dedicated him to God.  He was given to Eli the priest to live and serve in the temple always.

How was she able to do this?  Can you imagine yourself taking your child at the age of 3 or 4 and leaving him with an old man, who hadn’t proved to be such a good father to his own sons?  A person that you didn’t know all that well living in a big and drafty old temple. To live there with him and serve God all of his life. This was her only son whom she had wept and prayed for.  How could she know if God would give her more children?  She didn’t at the time.  Her devotion to God and her integrity of a promise given and a promise kept was strong in her.  But how?  God had a plan from the beginning.  She could not have known the mighty man of God her Samuel would become.

Hannah had determined from the beginning and was committed to the dedication of her son to the Lord.  She had made her mind up from the start that she would let him go.  Part of this was coming from her immense gratitude toward God for answering her prayers and from the importance of a vow kept, a promise given.

When we dedicate our children to the Lord in front of the congregation when they are babies, are we not doing the same thing?  Are we not promising God that we will be a good steward of the child He has given us?  That we will teach him/her the ways of the Lord. To fear, praise and honor Him.  To live for and serve Him all the days of their lives.  We do this ceremoniously and symbolically.  But do we do it from our hearts with the passion and dedication that Hannah did?  Or, for that matter, the way Jesus did for us?  Part of honoring our vow to God not only has to do with teaching and training, but has to do with giving them up, letting them go into the hands of God to fulfill the plan He has for their lives.  It requires a sacrifice. It requires our trusting God to know what’s best for our children, no matter what it looks like with our eyes.  After all, does He not know them better than we do?  Didn’t He form them in our wombs?  Every atom, molecule and cell, knitted together in the secret place.

I believe the Lord gave me this word as much for myself as for anyone else.  It’s okay to have this passion and concern for your loved ones. There have been times when I have beat myself up, and the enemy has too, for the anquish and passion I have had for my children to walk with God.  For the incessant and devoted prayers, the praying without ceasing, the weeping, the holding God to His promises - but I now know that I am simply a reflection of my Father.  In the midst of all this fervent praying He has and is giving me, and will give you , the grace to let go.

     We know from Genesis 1:27 that: “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  Since God created mankind in His image and part of mankind is female then it would stand to reason that some of His attributes and characteristics are female in nature. 

     So, we are born female with certain characteristics, physical and emotional, that are decidedly different from males.  However, in addition to that, when we come to know and accept Christ and we receive the Holy Spirit it seems that we also receive an even stronger impartation of those same characteristics.  An intensifying and enhancement of those characteristics of God’s nature – compassion, mercy, love, nurturing, teaching, comforting, leading and guiding.  All of these so desirable, good and neccessary for the wellbeing of the human race.  However, when you couple that with the not so wonderful characteristics of the female flesh – manipulation, control, easily deceived, a tendency toward being lead by emotions and feelings, you’ve got a crazy combination that seems to be warring against each other constantly.  Thereby causing much conflict and anxiety in the soul of a woman. Because of this we must be continually surrendered before the Lord.  These spiritual and fleshly characteristics must be brought under the Lordship of Christ in order for them to function properly. This is not to say that men don’t have these Godly characteristics as well, they do.  However, for the most part, when they are filtered through their maleness, they can look and manifest differently than in women.

     There is a passion and fervor that wells up in us as women when we are interceding for our loved ones and I believe it is the same passion that Jesus expresses in John 17.  As Christ prays for His disciples and us in John 17:6-25, you can feel His passion for those He loves to know the Father as He knows Him, to be protected from the evil one, to make it through this world with all of it’s temptations and dangers, knowing the love of the Father as Jesus knows His love, being intimate with Him.  “That they all may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”  It is this very passion translated through us by the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to pray effective prayers for our families and the Body of Christ.  “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  James 5:16.

     If we look at the definition of some of the key words in this verse we can better understand the kind of passion that I am referring to.  The word fervent means earnest, sincere, heartfelt and focused; very hot, glowing ; marked by great warmth of feeling; ardent.  Ardent means, passionate, zealous, devoted, fiery, hot, glowing, shining.  Effectual means, producing or able to produce a desired effect.  Righteous means, acting rightly, upright, according to what is right.

     Of course, we know that this righteousness is not a determination of our will, but a gift from our Lord Jesus Christ.  Let’s look at some verses:

     Titus 3:5 – “. . . He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.” 

     Philippians 3:9 – “. . . and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

     II Corinthians 5:21 – “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

     Romans 5:17 – “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

     We have talked about this passion we have for the dear ones we are praying for and Who it comes from.  Now, we need to talk about how we must not allow this beautiful passion to turn into anxiety and worry.  In this next section there are a few things I wish to quote from Joyce Meyer’s book “The Battlefield of the Mind”.  I will indicate them with (JM).

     Philippians 4:6 – “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiviing let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

     “God has given us His Word, use it!  Learn Scriptures like this one and when the enemy attacks, counter his attack with the same weapon Jesus used: the Word! (JM)

     When we are praying for others, especially our children, with passion and deep concern, it is easy for our minds to play the “what if?” game.  Vain imaginings can lead to much torment, steal our peace and cause us to enter into unbelief.  II Corinthians 10:5 tells us:  “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

     “When thoughts being offered you do not agree with God’s Word, the best way to shut the devil up is to speak the Word. (JM).  This was the same tactic Jesus used in the wilderness each time Satan tried to tempt Him.  “As it is written.”  (Matthew 4).

     “The Word coming forth out of a believer’s mouth, with faith to back it up, is the single most effective weapon that can be used to win the war against worry and anxiety.” (JM)

     “I Peter 5:6-7 – “Therefore humble yourselves (demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation) under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your concerns, once and for all) on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”  When the enemy tries to give us a problem, we have the privilege of casting it upon God.  The word “cast” actually means to pitch or throw.  You and I can pitch or throw our problems to God and, believe me, He can catch them.  He knows what to do with them.  This passage lets us know that to humble ourselves is not to worry.  A person who worries still thinks that in some way he or she can solve his/her problem or the problem of the one he is praying for.  Worry is the mind racing around trying to find a solution to its situation.  The proud man is full of himself, while the humble man is full of God.  The proud man worries, the humble man waits.  Only God can deliver us, and He wants us to know that, so that in every situation our first response is to lean on Him and to enter His rest.” (JM)

     We have talked about the idea of the “mother heart of God”, the passion that fuels our prayers and Who it comes from and not allowing it to cross over into the sin of anxiety and worry.  In the 3rd and final segment, in September I want us to look at a woman, like us in many ways, from a long time ago.  Hope this is not too long?!?  Just have a lot to say.  Love you all.  Saundra