By Julie Clinton
Did you know that God the Father longs for you? Not only does He long for you, He longs to be gracious to you! He is constantly finding ways to shower you with compassionate love—a love like that does not exist anywhere but in the character of God.
Our grasp of sin and our grasp of forgiveness go hand in hand. Let's be honest: We are all prodigals. We all want our own way…or the highway…and left to ourselves, we'd probably end up not too far from the pigpen, filling our hearts with garbage, and wondering why we're not satisfied. Jesus' parable of the prodigal son is more than just a story in the Bible…it's our story.
God created sex for physical pleasure between a husband and wife. In the context of marriage, sexual intimacy is a good. Beautiful. God-honoring. Holy. In fact, it's worship. While many Christians view sex as bad or dirty, a woman of true, godly beauty delights and rejoices in her sexuality as a God-given gift to be shared with her man. It's time to redeem our sexuality.
At some point in her life, every woman struggles with believing that God loves her. No, not that God loves the world. But that God loves her. I'll be honest… sometimes, I wonder. When I look at the real me that nobody else sees…how could God love that? In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul describes God's crazy, radical love that drove him to adopt us as his children. That makes you…and me…God's woman.
Understanding forgiveness starts with seeing how God relates to us. Every day, God gives us grace and forgiveness that we don't deserve. Forgiving doesn't minimize wrong-doing. And it doesn't magically clear up consequences. Miriam's disobedience resulted in leprosy, and there are definite consequences to our pride and selfishness, too. But forgiveness does set us free.
A firm decision to do or not to do something. That is the definition of a resolution. Did you know between 40 and 45 percent of adults in America make New Year’s Resolutions to start January 1st? However, almost 100 percent of those resolutions are forgotten by January 20th. I myself, am guilty of this conundrum of a cycle.
There is something about the cold winter days that makes God seem far away. Although Christmas lights illuminate the darkness and carols play on the radio, my soul still aches with loneliness. I can’t help but wonder if Christ is ever going to return.
If God created beauty, he made it to be enjoyed. We can be women of extremes, can’t we? Some of us are so caught up in looking great that we seldom give a thought to God’s purposes for beauty. Others of us are so repulsed by all the glitz and glamour that we pursue plainness with a passion! Lydia was a woman who found the right balance.
A scary diagnosis. Losing a job. Not enough money. Sick kids. An accident…and the list goes on. We may not be stuck in desert wastelands or deep darkness, but it can sure feel like it at times. For the children of Israel, that hardship included captivity. Exile. Separation from their families. Living in a strange, godless land. This psalm tells the story of how God’s people wrestled with adversity and cried out to God in faith.
Sometimes, true friendship means saying hard things. Confrontation is never fun. But all of us need people in our lives who care about us enough to say what needs to be said, even if we don’t want to hear it. In today’s passage, Paul discusses how to confront and restore a friend who has stumbled or is on trouble, which always demands “truth in love.”
Righteous women with unanswered prayers…I’ve met a lot of them. Women who continue to pray and believe even though the circumstances seem impossible. Elizabeth believed God was able to do the impossible…and God blessed her with a child in her old age, after years of public disgrace.
Hardship often exposes what we truly believe about God. A woman’s faith is revealed when a situation looks hopeless and it would be much easier to give up. To give in. To stop trusting God and try to fix it all on our own. The hardships in Abigail’s life revealed her unshakable faith in God.
Cell phones. The Internet. Social Media. We are constantly connected. Technologically, we are closer together than ever. Yet relationally, we couldn’t be further apart. Isn’t it ironic that as “social” as our world is today, we are getting less relational? Loneliness is one of the great social ills of our day. Our world is full of lonely people. People are longing for connection and true community and love.
In the midst of life changes, including unemployment, illness, loss, relocation, and retirement, you can be comforted by knowing that God’s love doesn’t change. He’s with you in the unemployment office, in the hospital, and in the moving van. He’s with you in the infertility clinic and as you begin to collect Social Security. Actually, He’s not just with you in these places, He’s in you in these places. And that’s a powerful piece of knowledge.
I pushed him away and slammed the door, making it very clear to Tim that the flowers he just brought me were not what I wanted. With a despondent yet agitated look on his face, he turned around and threw the flowers on the floor. They were Tim’s gesture at a peace offering for a fight we’d just had. Instead of accepting it, I overreacted, causing him to do the same. We had a wonderful “in the Spirit” together, if you know what I mean.
Have you ever been to one of those prayer meetings where everyone is gathered in a circle, heads are bowed, people may even be holding hands, and the person praying audibly voices a prayer of—you guessed it—patience? James 1 stuff. “Count it all joy when you fall into trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces patience.” You know what I’m referring to. Particularly if they prayed for you.
The weekend was packed with activity. We had traveled two hours for the final baseball tournament of the year. Our son, Zach, and his best friend, Josh Barrick, played on the team, and their dads were the coaches. We arrived home from the tournament just in time to get ready for our church’s six o’clock service, where our daughter, Megan, and Josh’s older sister, Jennifer, were singing in a choir. Jennifer’s grandfather was the guest speaker. It was an extraordinary night.
“Content”—it literally means to “desiring no more than what one has; satisfied.” 1 Do you know someone who lives with such freedom? Contented, satisfied, settled, and fun to be around? I need more of that in my life. Paul was an unlikely ambassador for Christ. Before becoming a follower, he actively persecuted Christians (Acts 9:1-2).
Have you or someone you love ever battled depression? You’d be shocked at how many women have or currently are. If you answer yes to five of the nine symptoms below, and the symptoms last two weeks or more, you may want to read this very carefully. The good news is that you can overcome depression.
God is not wasting the pain in your life. He never wastes a wound. He’s healing you at this very moment and using that pain to show you a dream bigger than you realize. Joni Eareckson Tada found her dream, but only after a diving accident left her a teenage quadriplegic. In a wheelchair for nearly 40 years, she’s now a successful speaker, author, and artist, and a beloved advocate for the disabled. But coming to realize His dream has been a difficult journey filled with pain, patience, and healing. He calls you and me to the same journey.
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Connect With Julie Clinton
Connect with Julie Clinton at EWomen
Julie Clinton M.Ad., M.B.A. Is president of Extraordinary Women and host of Ewomen conferences all across America. A woman of deep faith, she cares passionately about seeing women live out their dreams by finding their freedom in Christ. Julie and her husband, Dr. Tim Clinton, live in Virginia and are the parents of Zach and Megan, who is married to Ben Allison.
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