"...but Godliness with contentment is great gain." I Timothy 6:6
SONG - ”OPEN OUR EYES”
Open my eyes, Lord
I want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch Him,
And tell Him I love Him!!
Open my eyes, Lord
And help me to listen
Open my eyes, Lord.
I want to see Jesus.
Tonight, we’re going to look at the Godly woman as a Disciple and Christ’s
Representative which will lead to a Godly woman as a wife and mother.
The word Godly means “worthy of God”.. Godliness is “devoted to God or holy
living”.
What are some gains we look for in our lives?
1) A good job
2) A mate
3) Children
4) Money
5) A nice house
6) A good looking, good running car
7) Good friends
If we attain all these goals in our lives, we feel as though we’ve accomplished it all.....Don’t we?
.... but as the scripture above reads....“.... but Godliness with contentment is GREAT gain.” How about you? Are you content with your life?????
I. THE GODLY WOMAN AS A DISCIPLE
The Bible also tells us that godliness is:
It’s for our PROFIT
“But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto
godliness—for bodily exercise profits little (or for a little while), but godliness is profitable unto ALL things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” I Timothy 4:7,8
It is our PURSUIT
But thou O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, and faith, love, patience, and meekness.”
It’s our DUTY
“Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.” Titus 2:12
So.... how does this apply to us as Godly women in the 21st century or right now in 2003??? Where do we start? We build on a foundation, right?
Always good to start at the beginning .. This will all seem so basic, but sometimes we have to start over and start with the basics...
Our foundation is CHRIST!!
“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” * I Corinthians 3:11
1)Who is He?
A) He is God ...and from His own lips He says:
Matthew 28:18 - All power is given to Him
Matthew 9:6 - He has power to forgive sins.
John 14:9 - If we’ve seen Him, we’ve seen the Father
John 10:30 - I and my Father are one (and the same)
John 10:10 - He’s come to not only give us life... but a more abundant one.
As written in His Word:
Colossians 1:17 - He was before all things and all things consist by Him
Colossians 1:16 - All things were created by Him and for Him...
B) Although He had human characteristics while he lived here on earth.. He was and still IS perfect..
He was weary - John 4:6
He was hungry - Matthew 4:2
He was sleepy - Mark 4:38
He was sorrowful - John 11:35
He was tempted - Hebrews 4:15
2) What was His purpose in coming ?
Luke 19:10 - To save us... “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save
that which was lost.”
I Timothy 2:5 - To be our mediator “For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
When a person realizes that He is separated from God because of sin—there’s only one response... REPENTANCE.
To repent is to make a complete turn around.. You are going in one direction and you turn and go completely in the other direction. God’s way
Luke 13:3 “I tell you Nay: but, except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
So the bottom line is Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Have you done this? Have you turned from your sin and repented and been
sincerely sorry for your sin? Have you made a complete turn around in your live? Have people seen the difference that Christ has made? HAVE YOU accepted Jesus Christ’s redeeming sacrifice on Calvary’s cross? If not, you need to be sure.. You need to ask Him to come in .... forgive you of your sins... believe that He did it for you do it through His death and that He rose again.... and ask Him to become your Savior and your Lord.
What next?
You need to become that disciple... A disciple is a follower of a teacher or one who adheres to a teacher’s faith. That teacher and leader is Jesus.. And you need to become His star pupil.
God provides for a disciple through His Grace. Grace is God doing for us what we in no way deserve and mercy is God NOT doing to us what we richly deserve.
We are who we are by the grace of God. Paul wrote this in I Corinthians 15:10
of himself.. “But by the grace of God.. I am what I am.. “
Our means of and access to the grace of God is through FAITH. Romans 5:1 & 2 “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into His
grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
PAST faith is what was exercised when we received Christ. PRESENT
faith is believing and trusting His for each day’s problems now. FUTURE
faith is looking forward to being with Him in heaven. Are you walking by FAITH? What areas of your life are you still trying to handle by your own effort and worry, instead of trusting Jesus Christ?
The results of this Grace include:
“To be conformed to the image of Christ.” Romans 8:29 How do YOU measure up? Picture standing back to back with Jesus..
“But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
II Peter 3:18
And in growing... these things should be true in our lives.
Having love one to another - John 13:34, 35
Bearing fruit - John 15:8
Being obedient to the faith - Acts 6:7
I want to share some wonderful visual handouts for you to take and study and learn about concerning your walk with Christ .. Your prayer life and your study time.. These are distributed by the Navigators. ( I was given permission to use these illustrations as long as I gave credit to them and a link to their site.) The Navigators is an organization begun in the 1930's by
a young man who wanted to reach out to others about Jesus.. It’s basically an
evangelism outreach and discipleship ministry. Their theme is “To know Christ and to make Him known.”
THE WHEEL is an excellent illustration of our Christian life..
(Check out this page and read it.)
Our devotional life consists of both reading and studying the Word of God and of prayer.These two illustrations include both aspects of a good devotional life.
THE WORD HAND and THE PRAYER HAND. (Please check these out as well.)
The Navigators has an excellent Bible Reading Plan for the year. When you visit this page, it has a PDF file that can be downloaded with Adobe and you may print this out for your own use. The Bible Reading Plan from Navigators.
A most important aspect of your Christian walk as a Godly woman is:
C. The Lordship Of Christ
I always felt that from Scripture I had to first accept Jesus as my Savior and
then Lord immediately. I thought it was all one and the same. But after 32 years of being a Christian, as I have seen in my own life and others, I realize even more ... that it is a DAILY ACKNOWLEDGMENT of His lordship... and DAILY YIELDING of myself to Him and His plan for my life.
Many Christians NEVER achieve or maintain the Lordship of Christ in their lives. Jesus never changes.. But we do.. The Lordship of Christ is ultimately the DEATH to the self life.
Lord means: master, governor, chief, boos, ruler, and sovereign.
The term Lordship shows: ownership, absolute control, authority, rule or
dominion.
IS JESUS TRULY LORD OF YOUR LIFE?
He has the total right, you know? Why?
Hebrews: 1:12 says “... whom He (God) hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”
Acts 2:36 reads “.. That God hath made that same Jesus, whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ.”
John 13:3 “ .. You call me Master and Lord and you say well—for so I am.
I Corinthians 6:2 reads “ For you are bought with a price.. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods.”
Are you glorifying God in your body?????
John 15:5 “.... .I am the vine , ye are the brances.. He that abides in me.. And I in him----the same brings forth much fruit.. For without me you can do NOTHING!!!!
(Remember.. “I can do all things through Christ..... .”)
And now .. Here you are....
II. THE GODLY WOMAN AS CHRIST’S REPRESENTATIVE
We’re all different and yet very unique and special... and God will and does use us as He wills.. (If we let Him.)
The Christian life is somewhat like riding a bicycle —If you don’t move on... you will fall off. ( I didn’t say ‘lose your salvation’.. But there will be a halt to your journey and you will become stale and ineffective for Him.)
Song - “Friend Of A Wounded Heart”
Smile.. Make them thing you’re happy
Lie.. And say that things are find..
And hide that empty longing that you feel
Don’t ever show it.
Just keep your heart concealed.
Why.. Are the days so lonely
I wonder where, where can the heart go free
And who will dry the tears that no one sees..
There must be Someone to share your silent dream
Caught like a leaf in the wind
Looking for a friend.. Where can you turn?
Whisper the words of a prayer
And you’ll find Him there..
Arms open wide
Love in His eyes..
Jesus.. He meets you where you are..
Oh..oh..oh.. Jesus ..He heals your secret scars
All the love you’re longing for is Jesus..
The Friend of a wounded heart..
Joy.. Comes like the morning..
And hope.. Deepens as you grow..
And peace beyond the reaches of your soul
Comes flowing through you..
For love..has made you whole.
Once like the leaf in the wind..
Looking for the Friend..where could you turn?
You spoke the words of a prayer and you found Him there.
Arms open wide..
Love in His eyes..
Jesus.. He meets you where you are..
Oh..oh...oh.. Jesus.. He heals your secret scars.
All the love you’re longing for..
Is Jesus..
The Friend of a wounded heart..
Oh... Jesus.. He heals your secret scars...
All the love you’re longing for..
All the love that you need..
Is Jesus.. The Friend of a wounded heart..
Oh..oh.. Oh.. Oh...oh..oh.. A Friend of a wounded heart..
Oh..oh..oh...oh...oh.. Oh..Friend of a wounded heart..
Oh.. Oh.. Oh... oh.. Oh.. Oh.. A Friend of a wounded heart..
Oh..oh..oh.. Oh..oh..oh..
He’s the Friend of a wounded.. Heart!!!!
A. In the psychological area
Walking with God doesn’t always mean you’ll have perfect peace. Psychological
conflict is not abnormal or sinful-----BUT failure to resolve the conflict MAY be.
Some of these areas may include but are not totally conclusive:
FEAR
PRODUCTION ORIENTED
WORLDLINESS
GUILT
DISAPPOINTED WITH OR ABOUT GOD
DISAPPOINTED WITH OR ABOUT OTHERS
BITTERNESS
REBELLION
Which of these areas plague you the most? What are you going to do about it?
Wallow in them????? ... or give them to God and move on....
B. In the physical area
An ineffective Christian walk may be traced to these:
BEING LAZY - II Tim.2:34 “Endure as a good soldier.. “
BLASPHEMING - Psalm 71:18 Praise His name
EVIL COMPANY - Proverbs 13:20 Walk with wise men
HASTY ACTIONS - Isaiah 28:16 Wait upon the Lord as we trust in Him
C. In the spiritual area
These are some warnings we need to heed:
DON’T THINK YOU WON’T FALL INTO SIN ! - I Corinthians 10:12
WITHOUT GOD, YOU CAN DO NOTHING ! - John 15:5
LAY ASIDE THE WEIGHT OF SINS THAT HINDER YOU! - I Peter 2:1,2
DON’T PUT MAN ABOVE GOD ! - I Corinthians 4:6,7
BE SOBER, ALERT, AND VIGILANT! (Satan is always looking for a fall guy)
I Peter 5:8
HUMBLE YOURSELF!! - I Peter 5:5,6
Here are some tips and remedies that can help you in your Christian walk to keep a balance in your PRIORITIES, SEEKING AND FIND GOD’S WILL, YOUR
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, as well as your commitment to your local
CHURCH. (Email Georgia for this information)
III. THE GODLY WOMAN AS A WIFE AND MOTHER
When all the former things I mentioned and taught tonight are being followed,
then so will the role God has or will have for your as a Godly wife and mother..
Close prayer and song - “My Jesus I Love Thee”
My Jesus, I love Thee
I know Thou art mine
In Thee all the follies
Of sin I resign
My gracious Redeemer
My Savior art Thou
If ever I loved Thee
My Jesus, 'tis now.
All my love to you, my friends in the precious Lord.........
It is my prayer that this message will speak to hearts and BE that woman that God wants YOU to be!!!
Georgia
