Thursday, April 10, 2014

Brave Women run in my Family; Eve: Image-Bearer 10/4/2014

Sisterhood 10/4/2014 Bobbie. Houston

Eve - Image - Bearer

Within the pages of the bible we find many women, named and unnamed (the unnamed includes us all) whose lives left an imprint on our history. e.g. Mrs Noah doesn't have a name, but consider the impact of her life as Noah's wife.

An imprint = produce a mark or pattern by pressure.  We are delusional to think that there won't be pressure on our lives; it's through pressure that the potter (God) can mold our lives. A lump of coal becomes a diamond only under pressure.

Eve is our perfect and first example of value and identity.  Eve was fashioned to complete Gods creation.  Imago Dei (Latin) = made in the image of God; and we are imbedded with Gods own likeness at the very core of our being. We are 'imbued' with His image; we are divinely created daughter's, worthy of value.

The Sisterhood therefore exists to champion and protect every daughter.  Eve, the perfect and first woman was marred by the lie of the fall, but still redeemed by His grace. God didn't cancel His promise with humanity with the first bend (sin entering with the fall) in the road.

At Genesis 1 verse 27 man enters the frame.  So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27 NIV)

'Image' (in Hebrew) is Tzelem = representation in physical form but not necessarily physical resemblance.

Consider the scope and magnitude of the fact that no-one in history has ever looked the same or has the same finger prints.

Gen 1:28 we (women) are positioned with men, right from the beginning, not beneath or secondary.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. (Genesis 2:1 NIV). VAST ARRAY; both the physical and unseen likeness of God.

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7 NIV)

The mere breath of God within us means that we live for eternity; forever to exist. We are part of reality for eternity.  

Consider: What happens to us in the afterlife? This is the great commission, the reason for our existence; to be advocates and voices of Gospel of Truth.  The Word must come alive in our hearts, allowing us to clearly hear the spirit of God, and engage the truth of God into the lives of others.

Gen 3:1-19 = the fall and the consequences thereof. The fall wasn't about the fact that they ate a simple piece of fruit, it was about obedience to God; protecting them from what they didn't need to know (from the tree of knowledge). God gave them everything to enjoy, with only ONE exception (the tree of knowledge). He is a holy God & His judgments are pure and just.

Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. (Genesis 3:20 NIV)

Adam named his wife after the fall and all of the consequences associated with that. Adam named her 'the mother of all the living'.

Eve didn't arrive in the garden needing to be brave, as she had everything that God provided, but after 'the fall' she had to learn to be brave, due to the consequences of the fall. Eve was created into the most perfect environment, but she had to learn to be brave, in the same way we need to learn to be brave due to our environment and as a result of our own consequences.

Eve - in the Hot Seat (Bobbie pretends to interview Eve)

Question: What was it like to open your eyes and be alive? From what we understand in the bible Eve didn't have a childhood, she was a fashioned woman (from Adam's rib). 

When God breathed life into Eve, she was 'face to face' with the creator.
Question: What were your thoughts as you beheld the creator and His creation for the first time? Consider perhaps the visual stimulus = stunning, or the sensual (senses) feast of creation.

Question: Did God say anything as He took you to meet Adam?  Did Adam get emotional as he saw you for the first time. [Bobbie makes reference to the 'Colour Opener,' and the visual representation of Gomer (wife of Hosea) returning to Hosea after running away, and his unconditional love for her, and acceptance, and likens this to the love shown by Adam to Eve.]

Question: How did you feel when it dawned on you that you were the crowning, finishing touch of creation? Eve was living in the glass house, and naked to boot!

Bobbie then asks us to consider the fact that we are created in His image and likeness.  As we walk the journey of our life we are continually learning and growing in that fact. 

Question: Did God spend time explaining the fact that we are in His image, or was that fact obvious in beholding God? 

Bobbie then encouraged us to consider: If we beheld Him more would 'in His likeness and image' become more obvious? 

In the cool of the day they saw God walking in the garden. Is that when they conversed and spent time with God?

Question: What went enough your head and heart when you realised you had violated the one (only) commandment?

People may be under the misunderstanding that it was only Eve that caused the fall, but they fell together.  From our standpoint it would be so easy to deem them a failure, but they were human.

Sometimes you don't know what you have until you lose it. They walked with God, we now have the Word to restore us.  In many ways we have no excuse as the Word is available for us to learn from the lives of those contained therein. 

Gen 3:20; Eve is the mother of all living. Eve was called the mother of all the living, and so she needed to move on from the fall.  She took a deep breath and pressed on regardless, and became the woman she was.

Eve = Life giver, life spring. Eve changed a desolate place (as a consequence of the fall the landscape of the environment changed, both flora and fauna) into a place of life. She had to be brave. We are called to bring more resource and be a well of salvation within the desolate places.

She pressed on to reestablish her relationship with God. Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” (Genesis 4:1 NIV) 'With the help of The Lord' suggests a restored relationship with God.

Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord. (Genesis 4:25, 26 NIV)

In the midst of those circumstances she maintained her relationship with God, resulting in the people calling on the name of the Lord.

1) Remember Gods' intent.  God loves us uniquely. We have His infinite likeness, His image, within us, which makes us beautiful. We have an outer and inner substance. What uniqueness can I bring to the body of Christ. There is a measure of His image and likeness within each of us, that is meant to serve His body. As we abide in Him, and become more in line with His likeness we can delve into the our 'treasure chest' to serve the Body.

The fall may have disrupted Gods intention, but Christ restored - Eden revisited and more.

God loved Adam & Eve so much that even after the fall He took care of them, by sewing skins and clothes for His children. God had always purposed that humanities redemption would come from His seed.

2) The enemies intent still remains. The thief at the end in Revelation is no longer a snake but is a beast. 

3) Remember redemption's intent through Christ and His word.

The bible is a mirror of God. Abiding in His word is a redemptive process; we are in the process of being changed, as we become more like what we behold (God). 

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV) AMP version. Every time we open His word we are changed by one degree of glory to another.

In a way, we are masters of our own destiny when it comes to reading the word. We can remain the same or choose to be transformed by it daily.












Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Worship and Witness - 27/02/2014

Bobbie. H. Sisterhood 27/2/2014

Bobbie starts by using the AMEX catch-phrase "don't leave home without it"; meaning that we shouldn't start the day without the Holy Spirit; without spending time with God.  She encourages us not to enter a new day without a devotion and commitment to bear worship and to be a witness.

Our daily habits and disciplines determine our lives. They affect our entire being. They set us up to win, or otherwise.

However we think about our day, it will be tainted with that brush. If our habit is to be negative about our day then we'll have a negative day;  our day will work out the way we think. If our habit is to think less of our-self, our day will be diminished, as will we, and we will draw back.

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.(Proverbs 23:7 NKJV)

Bobbie then encouraged us to arrest those things that will hold us back.  If we don't press in to God, empowered by His word, we will have nothing left in our tank. Our daily habits determine the quality of our days.

She then stated that 'We are Proverbs 31 women'. We know what our daily disciplines should be, but there are times when we forget to apply them.

In the context of not leaving home without a sense of worship of our lives, Bobbie encouraged us to:

1) Start the day and walk your 'path' with a sense of worship; with a heart set towards its true north. Lean in toward God; this is the most natural and beautiful way to be. 

Our 'True North' is the integral compass that sets you on success for life. It is your orientating point, and it helps you to stay on track as a leader. They are those things which are most important to you. 'True North' points you towards your purpose.  The Word draws us forward, it sustains us, and empowers us in everything. 

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is noted as 'the way, the truth and life', and we are called to take up our cross and follow Him. The Word says that God implanted eternity in our hearts, so it is within our being to naturally want to follow Him and commune with Him and be led by Him.
  
2) Worship is a heart set towards Lordship.  Keep me safe, O God, I’ve run for dear life to you. I say to God, “Be my Lord!” Without you, nothing makes sense. (Psalm 16:1, 2 MSG)

Bobbie then talks about Mary, and her acceptance of being the mother of the Son of God.  'And Mary said, Yes, I see it all now: I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say. Then the angel left her.' (Luke 1:38 MSG).  Mary accepted what the angel of the Lord had said to her, and desired for His will to be done.

When Mary visited her sister Elizabeth who was pregnant with John, Elizabeth stated that when she saw Mary the baby inside her leaped.

“Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly, You’re so blessed among women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed! And why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me? The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, The babe in my womb skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true! (Luke 1:36-45 MSG)

These two women intimately knew the lord, they had allowed Him to have lordship over their lives; their stance was that of 'Your will be done'.

3) Have a heart that rehearses the engrafted word and puts it on like a garment. We are called to be clothed in salvation.  

Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. (Psalms 119:11 NKJV).  Your word is a light unto my feet a lamp unto my path (Ps 119:105). How beautiful are the feet that go upon the mountain and bring the word.

We have to be childlike.  Our worship is to rehearse His word. 
“Here’s what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that’s been through the refiner’s fire. Then you’ll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You’ve gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see. (Revelation 3:18 MSG) = Clothed in salvation.

Put your face on. Put on your countenance. Have happy feet and a happy face. 

Habit definition: A recurrent, often unconscious, pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. An established disposition and character.

4) Leave home with a sense of being a witness. Bearing witness of our lives. Worship God and bear witness. 

In a documentary, James Cameron, in which he was likened to a Visionary, stated that he dreamed of 'the tree of life' many years before he was able to put it in his film 'Avatar'. He said that if you see something that is unique, or new, you are compelled to bear witness to it, you simply cannot keep it to yourself, and he feels that he is supposed to share everything unique that he 'sees', whether in reality or in his dreams.

Bobbie then asked us 'how can we bear witness to all the wonder, of all the aspects of God and not be empowered and impassioned to bear witness?'. We hold the mystery to life. When we commune with God and engraft His word on our hearts, we are exposed to His wisdom, His goodness, which brings health and well being to our body and soul, which makes us desperate to share all that we have with everyone we encounter.   He empowers us with the Holy Spirit.

The 'harvest fields' of the world are ripe, and we must communicate His goodness in a way that offers a sense of worship. 

John Stott wrote: 'The works of the Lord are to be the subject of our witness. Worship and witness belong together. We cannot possibly worship God—that is, acknowledge his infinite worth— without longing to go out into the world to persuade other people to come and worship him.  Worship leads inevitably to witness, but witness leads to worship, too. It is a continuous cycle of worship leading to witness leading to worship and so on. The two cannot be separated.'

Stott goes on to reference the witness of the cross, and the creator of our universe. We are all a witness of His personal work in us, and we should be compelled to share our testimony.

The greatest witness we have is our constant companion of the Holy Spirit.  He enables us to commune with God, intimately and constantly, and He causes us to speak on Christ's authority.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NKJV)