Leaning on My Beloved

 

 

I need your prayers, friends. Please don't ask for details - just pray and believe. This has been one of the hardest years of my life . . . so much death and sorrow.  I've never known such grief . . .

I know that God works everything together for my good because I am called to His purpose.

 I am being drawn closer to My Beloved through every pain and sorrow. I'm leaning on Him and clinging to this promise from His Word: 

 What the righteous hope for will end in JOY.

Proverbs 10:28a  (CJB) 

This beautiful poem is a message that has soothed my soul as I cling to Him.  

Songs of the Beloved poetry by Maria Egilsson

(from the author's Facebook page and used with her permission.)

 

 

The broken way

Is where we often walk

With grief and weight

That rest heavy

With confusion

And lances the

Heart with pain

Yet it is there

That we find Him

The One who has

Walked this road

Who offers His hand

To take us through

This thin place

Where we feel

Brittle and a bit lost

Until sacredness

Overwhelms and

We find ourselves

On holy ground

Lost in His love

 

God's Mandate for Older Women

 

 

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Nancy Campbell's ministry of writing always touches and teaches me.  I love this post and hope it will be helpful to you my dear Gail-Friends.

GOD’S MANDATE FOR OLDER WOMEN  

by Nancy Campbell of Above Rubies 

(used by permission)

"It seems that many older women are not aware of the mandate God gives to them. Titus 2:3-5 tells us that the older women are to teach and show the way for the younger women. 

 

These Scriptures are very specific about what we are to teach—to love their husbands and to submit to their husbands, to love their children, to be keepers at home, to be self-controlled, kind, and pure. It’s all to do with the home.

 

The sad thing is, that once their children have grown, many mothers move on to other things and other careers, forgetting that it’s not time to give up motherhood. It’s time to extend and enlarge our motherhood.

 

Now that the new Above Rubies is arriving to women, I often receive emails from woman who say: “Thank you so much for encouraging me in motherhood over the years, but now my children have grown, and I no longer need it.”

 

My heart grieves because we older mothers still need the message of Above Rubies (which is the message of Titus 2) as much as ever. If we don’t continue to walk in the truth of this message and continue teaching it to the younger generation, we fail our mandate from God. And we older mothers constantly need refresher courses. I am now in the great-grandmothering stage and yet I am still learning more about God’s ways for marriage and motherhood. There is always more to learn. And if we don’t keep learning, how can we teach the younger generations?

 

Do these mothers not care about the younger generation of mothers? And what about their own children? That’s an even greater responsibility, to teach and train them in God’s plan for marriage and the home.

 

But God’s word is even more definite. It goes on to say that if we older mothers do not fulfill our mandate that we blaspheme God’s Word. Oh wow. That’s a strong word, isn’t it? It’s not mine, it’s God’s.

 

Some other translations of the Bible use the words: slander, revile, malign, insult, dishonor, disgrace, discredit, bring shame, disrepute, reproach and shame. All powerful words too.

 

Oh for a powerful army of older women to rise up to show the way for the next generation."

 

Shalom and blessings to you all, Gail-Friends

** Bing image / free to use and share

Sing and Celebrate Shavuot

 Shavuot - Celebrate His Gift

We are celebrating Shavuot today - the giving of God's Laws at Mt. Sinai.  This is a re-post about a previous celebration.  Please continue to pray for Israel as they are being attacked by the Palestinians as I write today. 

This weekend, we remembered and observed God's commandment to celebrate the feast of Shavuot.  We put this beautiful hand-made curtain on the ark, which holds the scroll, in preparation for the Torah procession.  It was made by our congregation member, LaVonne Craft, and the Hebrew says - The Torah is a tree of life.  Blessed is the man who takes hold of it.  This is so true of me.  When I began to read and obey the Torah, my life changed dramatically. 

Shavuot is God's commanded day to remember His gift of the Torah to Moses (and us) on Mt. Sinai. Also, this was the day the Ruach Ha Kodesh came down on those who were gathered in a Shavuot celebration at Jerusalem after the resurrection of Yeshua. He wrote the Torah on their hearts that day, and He's still doing it today. Haleluyah! We take His Word wherever we go. We are His disciples - teaching others about Yeshua and His commandments. You can learn more about this commanded feast, and see photos of our past celebrations, in my blog posts HERE. 

 This week, in preparation for Shavuot, I found this video about the Torah.  It asks the question, "What would a world without Torah look like?" We watched this video at our synagogue's celebration, and I hope you will watch it, too, dear Gail-Friends:   If the Jewish People Never Received the Torah

On Shavuot, it's a tradition to parade the Torah and to praise Adonai for His great gift.   I love this video of a celebration of Shavuot.  If this song gets your toes to tapping, grab your gift -- the HOLY BIBLE - and join the dance!