Friday, November 8, 2013

You must be a cunning woman!

Who would not love a God like this?
Who would not wash His feet with tears?
Who would not raise her hands in His presence?
Or kiss His nail-scarred hands, when these are the hands that reach out to heal the broken areas in her life?
A woman needs to know that there is a God who can know her darkest, deepest secrets and still have compassion for her.
What woman would not tremble in the presence of a God who would assume the task of defending her and stand between her and her assailants?
What woman would not appreciate a God, who becomes an attorney, assumes her case, requires no fee, and wins her the victory?
What woman would not be awed to know that there is a God who can be convinced of her guilt and yet insist on her forgiveness?
This is the epitome of love: to know that we are all naked before Him and yet somehow He, by His grace, stoops down and touches the dirty places in our lives.
It is recognizing this kind of mercy that causes the woman of the twenty-first century to fall in love with the God who is called the ‘Ancient of Days.’
He is older than time itself, and yet He is more relevant than this morning’s paper.
He is before when or where; He is before this or that.
And yet He is God who is never referred to in the past tense.
He is not the God that was; He is the God that is.
He is the God that is called I Am. I Am what? You ask. He is whatever you need Him to be, whenever you need Him to be.
I am sorry, and I apologize on behalf of all the men of the world because none of them can be this but God.
He is the absolute of which the men are just a shadow.
He is the reality of which the men are just a substitute.
The man can hold you through the night, but He can hold you through the ages.
So when our arms grow weak and weary, we can recommend a God who neither sleeps nor slumbers.
He can stop the stones that should have been hurled at you.
One word from Him gives you the second chance you need to succeed.
Your husband may be the lover of your body, but He is the lover of your soul.
Your husband may kiss your lips, but He can kiss the tears from your eyes, the pain from your memories, the clouds from your skies.
He is the great lover.
He paid the price to bear the name.
He shed the blood that became the evidence, and became the judge of this world to throw your case out of court.
Because of Him, you are free!
You must be a cunning woman

A cunning woman is a woman who is intelligent enough to know what it is she needs and who possesses the ability to accomplish the goal she has determined.
The goal is to have an intimate, personal relationship with God.
He then becomes the underground water that replenishes the dry soil and prepares your ground for the abundant harvest of blessing that is promised through His Word.
You must pursue him with passion.
You must pursue him with intensity.
I cannot explain it, but there seems to be some depth of worship that the feminine heart has a tendency to reach but only few men will ever encounter.
It seems that women somehow understand how to lose themselves in the presence of God in a unique and powerful way.
Once a woman understands that Christ is her goal, she seems able to focus on Him, allure Him, and entertain Him with a level of praise that is so engrossing that she is healed by His touch and fulfilled by His Word.
I have seen women who were so impacted by His invisible presence that they were able to walk away from the presence of others who were far more tangible, but far less effective.
These women praise the Lord with a romanticism that is so engrossing.
They write Him poetry and sing Him songs.
They dance in His presence.
They raise hands toward Him in the middle of the night.
They walk through the house exchanging thoughts and pleasantries.
They seem almost like little girls sitting in the lap of an aged father whose touch is so loving.
These women arise from the altar of praise and walk the streets of life with an inner confidence and an inner knowing that cause them to have a smile for which no man is responsible.
These are the daughters of Sarah.
In order to be a daughter of Sarah you must be a woman whose relationship with God is so intense that when you are faced with challenges you refuse to be intimidated or overwhelmed.
In fact, you resist the temptation to be traumatized by the crises of life.
You choose to walk in the full assurance that the presence of God is there to walk beside you.
You breathe the good of life and exhale the bad of life.
And the process continues without asphyxiation because you have learned that all these things are but a process, a process that will lead you closer to the presence of God.





(excerpt from 'The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord' ....T.D. Jakes)