November 22, 2024

Captivating: Chapter 6 – Let Him Father You – A Deeper Healing (Pg. 106 – 112)

February 14, 2013 by

Daddies.  I have come to find that this can be a tough topic for many women.  Some have had wonderful doting fathers that made them feel like princesses.  More often than not our dads have fallen short in some way, and sometimes not intentionally.  Some work to provide and give their family as much as possible, but leave us emotionally void, never saying “I love you” or knowing we are cherished.  Some say all the right things, but their actions do not show love or respect for their family.  And unfortunately there are fathers that take advantage of their position in the family and violate their daughters in ways that no girl should have to experience.  What is wonderful though is that no matter what your experience with your dad, you have a Heavenly Father that loves you and cares about you more than any human father can, no matter how amazing they are!

I, like Stasi, have heard many times that we view God through the lenses we view our own fathers.  I can definitely see the validity in that, and I have seen women who definitely do that, but I don’t know if that is necessarily true for everyone.  For me, my dad was one of those dads that worked very hard to provide for our family.  I also knew that he was always in my corner.  But he was not someone who made me feel cherished, or like his little princess.  “I love you” was rarely verbalized in our house, and there was no “twirling around” in dresses or cuddling up in his lap that I can ever remember.  Despite that, I put my daddy on a pedestal and thought he could do no wrong.

To this day, I have very similar feelings.  But my view of God was just the opposite.  I thought of him as the “punishing God” just waiting for me to mess up.  Someone to be afraid of, and who would never “be in my corner” or provide for me.  So I viewed my Heavenly Father much differently than how I viewed my earthly father.  I think it was more about the faith I was raised in, rather than my dad.  I don’t think I ever heard God referred to as a father, except in prayers I was given to memorize, and even then it just seemed like words and not an actual relationship.

But praise Him that I know the truth now.  I know who He is.  He is my Daddy, my Papa, my ABBA Father.  I can snuggle up in His lap whenever I want, and He welcomes it.  I can talk to Him about anything and everything and He listens like I am the only person in the world.  I can ask Him, “Do you love me?  Am I beautiful and captivating?” and His answer will always be yes.  Isn’t that amazing?  What a loving God we serve. Do you believe this for yourself?  Are you still working to earn His love?  Rest easy sisters, there is nothing you can do to make Him love you any more or any less than He does right this minute.

A line in this chapter really stood out to me, “What if you have a genuine and captivating beauty that is marred only by your striving”.  Wow.  That stung a bit, and I definitely saw myself in that comment.  I know God loves me, right now, where I’m at, human and stumbling.  He does, and He loves you too.  So why do I still try to earn His love in so many ways?  I tend to try too hard in all relationships, tend to overthink every issue I face, put too much energy into pretending that everything is fine, try to do more and more for God through ministry or studies or any other number of things.  I am striving.  And I am holding myself back.  I am learning that is isn’t about “doing for” God, it is about “being with” God.  I take comfort in that.  I need to sit in His lap more and listen.  I need to embrace His love.  I need my Daddy.  How about you?

 

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LET’S PRAY

Lord we come humbly to You today.  Father, we need Your love.  Come to the core of our hearts, come and bring Your love for us.  Help us to know You for who You really are, and perhaps not as we see our earthly fathers.  Reveal yourself to us.  Reveal Your love for us.  Show us what we mean to You.  Come and father us, we need You Daddy.  In Your Heavenly Name we pray.  Amen.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Part of the reason women are so tired is because we are spending so much energy “striving”.  So much energy devoted to suppressing issues and keeping a good appearance.  We want to give you permission to relax. Rest in the security of the Lord’s love.  Let it go sweet sister! How does the thought of giving up all that struggling make you feel?  

 

 

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Captivating: Chapter 6 – Forgiveness and Healing (pp 102-105)

February 13, 2013 by

Look at the title of this blog.  Do you realize that you can’t have one without the other? Those two words are not mutually exclusive.  Ladies, you cannot have the whole healing Christ offers freely without not only accepting His forgiveness, but offering it to those who have hurt you as well.

I was a very emotional child.  I would carry around hurts of “he said, she said” or “she talked about me behind my back” or “he gave me a dirty look” all of the time.  I carried those burdens.  In fact, I still do.  I still find it hard to let go of things when people hurt me.  In those times of intense anger or hurt, I remember what my beautiful mother always told me.  “Take the stone out of your own eye, Carissa.”  This principle she taught me comes directly from Scripture.

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” Matthew 7:5 (ESV).

Our authors discuss this point as well:

“It might help to remember that those who hurt you were also deeply wounded themselves.  They were broken hearts, broken when they were young, and they fell captive to the Enemy.  They were, in fact, pawns in his hands.  This doesn’t absolve them of the choices they made, the things they did.  It just helps us to let them go—to realize that they were shattered souls themselves, used by our true Enemy in his war against femininity.” (pg. 103)

Helps put things in perspective, doesn’t it?  Our enemies are not the people who hurt us…it’s Satan.  He’s the one who causes evil in this world.  He’s the snake behind The Fall of Adam and Eve.  Yes, the responsibility is still ours; we make wrong choices daily.  But, be assured that one day, we will all be held accountable for our actions and words before God.  He will judge; He will right all wrongs.  We are accountable for ourselves, not for anyone else.  So that is why Jesus calls us to “forgive as the Lord [forgives us]” in Colossians 3:13.

When we forgive, a burden on our heart is lifted.  So what burdens are you still carrying?

WhenWeForgive

 

Once we forgive and let go of those hurts, we can receive fully the healing promised by God.  David, tortured by his oppressors, praises God in Psalm 23.  Meditate on the truth below today. God loves you and will heal your broken heart!

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

For His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

For You are with me,

Your rod and Your staff,

They comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

In the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me

All the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.

Praise Him,

Carissa

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Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, You are so magnificent! We praise You, Father, for Your endless mercy and forgiveness because we deserve nothing.  Help us to forgive those in our past, present, and future. Heal our hearts, Daddy.  We love You, and know that You promise complete healing if we ask.  In Jesus’ precious Name, Amen.

 

Your Assignment:

What’s holding you back from offering forgiveness to those who have hurt you?  Please share so we can pray with you!

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 If you would like to send a private message to Carissa in regards to this blog, please email her at: Carissa@GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com

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Captivating: Chapter 6 – Will You Let Him? (pp 92-98)

February 12, 2013 by

“Will you let me come for you?”

Yesterday we talked about letting God into our painful places to bring healing. The miraculous movements that He will make in our life, the beauty that He will bring in place of the ugly pain and hurt that has piled up for so long; if only we let him. Yesterday we said “if you let Him,” today it’s a question: “Will you let Him come in?”

For so long we have done things on our own…for so long we have trusted our own system, our own way of dealing with the pain…for so long we have been doing it wrong. To borrow from the quote that John and Stasi included in this section, “The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life against being opened up and transformed.”   The walls I built—the walls we built—were an attempt to protect what remaining parts of my heart I felt I had left and I think that goes for a lot of women. We want to hold on to what we feel we have left, but in doing this we shut out the one person who can heal those damaged parts, the one who can make our hearts whole again.

God promises to be tender, to care for our hearts in a manner that would never bring pain.

Hosea 2:14

Therefore I am now going to allure her

I will lead her into the desert

And speak tenderly to her.

Another version I read said that He would “speak comfort to her.”  Imagine the healing and comfort and peace we can have if we say ‘yes!’  If we open our hearts to God and let His hands repair what years of pain has broken down. He is knocking on our hearts. Knocking and waiting. Knocking and waiting. He knocks and we hold more tightly to that key; he knocks and we fear that opening the door will bring more pain.  We fear that it will make us more vulnerable than we already are. But, lovely ladies, it is very opposite from that. Opening the door to Him will heal that hurt, He will strengthen us through His love, and He will remind us that ours are hearts of beauty and wholeness.

 

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Ladies, God is knocking and asking us to turn the key over to Him.  He is asking us to unlock the door and let Him in to begin the healing work He wants to do. He is asking us to stop believing the lies of our hurts and to remember the healing message in His truths.

I have worked as a hospice bereavement counselor for three years,  One of the main pieces of information I give to patients and their families is to allow themselves to feel the emotions they are having. Not to stuff and ignore…but to allow the emotions to flow.  To cry, to be scared, to be mad, that it is okay to feel in response to their situation. To “let it out.” We have to let ourselves feel again, ladies; to feel without fear of opening ourselves up too much, to feel without fear of being wrong in our feelings. To feel with the knowledge that God has our heart in His hands, to feel and give those feelings to God, the fear, the anger, the hurt.

He is knocking. He is waiting at the door to our hearts. He wants us to cry out to Him…to give Him the key.  He wants us to let Him in to heal our hurts.  To make our hearts the complete masterpiece He designed them to be.

With Love,

Tonya

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Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, thank You for not leaving us.  Thank You for knocking and waiting. Thank You for not giving up on the women you created us to be. Thank You for Your love and compassion, for Your healing touch. I bind the spirit of fear in Jesus name, it has no control over our lives, it has no say in our emotions. Our hearts belong to You, Lord.  In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Your Assignment:

There is a prayer on page 101 (I’m not sure what page it is in the electronic version, but it is at the end of the “Renounce The Agreements You’ve Made” section. It is a prayer for the spirit of truth, it is a prayer to renounce the lies we have believed over the years.

If you journal, this would be a great place to write this prayer.  If you feel comfortable, you can pay it in our private Facebook group, as well.

Also, please stop in and share your thoughts from these sections. Your insights may bless another.

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If you are interested in joining this online Bible study, please click HERE to sign up.

Once we receive your registration, we will email you further details.

If you are interested in sending a private message to Tonya, please email her at TonyaEllison@GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com

 

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Captivating: Chapter 6 – Healing the Wound – Hemmed In (Pgs 92-98)

February 11, 2013 by

I’m sitting at my computer stirring my coffee, allowing the warmth, and the soft vanilla smell to wake me up on this beautiful morning. I had finished reading the first two sections of the chapter and the words are still working their way into my heart. There are times when I read the book that I will re-read, look up definitions, and look up Scriptures to help me understand what I’ve read. But this morning was different. As I was curled up in my favorite reading and writing spot—the corner of our love seat—the words I was reading were an echo of what God has been speaking to me for quite some time. Hiding wounds and building walls around them is something that I have, unfortunately, become very good at. Some wounds are old while others are still fresh.

I wasn’t letting anyone near these wounds, especially not God. These wounds were destroying my heart, they were starting to show in other areas of my life because I had set up walls, I had refused access. I was taking care of it.

God had to “thwart” me. He had to step in front of me and stop all my ways from working. This summer was the time in my life when I came back to Him, wounded and aching.

I want to clear something up first: I hadn’t strayed so far from Him that I was completely living in the world. I was still going to church regularly.  I was still being kind to others. I was still trying to live the good Christian life.  My wounds were well-hidden. To be wounded, and in need of God’s healing touch, does not mean you have to be the prodigal daughter, the one who has abandoned all of her childhood teaching to go explore the world.  It means that life’s hurts, whether self-inflicted or created by others, are hindering us from being the woman God created us to be.  They are stopping us from truly being ourselves.

These sections hold some very serious topics, it may even feel overwhelming to think of it all at once.  But, if anything is taken from these sections, please let it be these four words…

If you’ll let Him

 Isaiah 61:1-3

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

*Healing. Releasing. Comforting. Providing. Bestowing. Joy-giver. Beautifier.*

We are told why Jesus has been placed on this earth, like the text says, it is not just to offer us salvation and then leave us to our own devices. He has come to continue to make us who we were designed to be. For this, I am so thankful. I am a work in progress. We are a work in progress.

Captivating_Ch6_Blog1This summer I turned to God broken and hurting and He was there to save me…but He is not done. Thank God! Despite our wounds, despite our hurts, despite the past that we as women carry He is not done with us and He will do everything it takes to rescue us and set our hearts free.  If we let Him, He can, will, and wants to be all of these things to us. If we let Him, He will make our hearts whole.

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Let’s Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, You told us that You came to heal our wounds, to make us beautiful, to free us. Thank You. We try to handle our wounds ourselves. We build walls, we hide them. Healing our wounds is a job for You, Lord. Please forgive us for trusting in our own methods more than trusting Your words, and Your heart. Please help us to take a step back and allow You in to those walled places, those places of pain. Please continue to mold us into the women You designed us to be. I pray for peace, strength, and joy, Lord.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.

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Your Assignment:

What are your thoughts on these sections? What touched your heart?  What do you have questions about?

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 If you are interested in joining this online Bible study, please click HERE to sign up.  Once we receive your registration, we will email you further details.

If you are interested in sending a private message to Tonya, please email her at TonyaEllison@GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com

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Captivating: Chapter 6 – “Healing the Wound”

February 10, 2013 by

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I hope studying about the enemy’s ploys last week gave you another way of looking at your struggles and reminded you to keep putting on your armor .  Most importantly I hope it reminded you that there is always hope in Jesus!  I know that my thinking was challenged.  This week we start to work on healing our wounds.  I am looking forward to this more than you know.  Here are our reading assignments for the week:

Monday: Tonya – Healing the Wound – Hemmed In

Tuesday: Tonya – Turning From the Ways You Sought to Save Yourself – We Find Our Tears

Wednesday: Carissa – Forgive – Ask Him to Destroy Your Enemies

Thursday: Michelle –  Let Him Father You – A Deeper Healing

Friday: Edwina– Weekly Review

Saturday: Diane – Love Letters from God

LET’S PRAY

Father, we stand in expectation for what You have for us as we begin week 6. If we are struggling, help us to let our fears go.  We know that the enemy is trying to steal our joy.  We strive to live completely in You and for You.  Show us the lessons we can learn, and grow us in ways we can’t even imagine.  In Your Name, we pray.  Amen.

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If you are interested in joining us for the “Captivating” Online Bible Study, please click HERE.

Once we receive your registration, we will email you further details.

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Captivating: Chapter 5 Review

February 8, 2013 by

Wow, ladies!  As women we have special powers that absolutely terrify the enemy! Please join me as I try to summarize this week’s truth-revealing blogs which were written by our fabulous bloggers!

On Monday, Tonya reminded us that this journey we are on might be tough at times, but that we can be assured that the AUTHOR of our stories is walking along with us.

Then again on Tuesday, Tonya said that despite what our history was, or how it leads those around us and in society to see/feel about women… please rest and be assured that God’s plan is playing out. His will is being done and we are living according to His purpose. Don’t look past the history, don’t look past the influence it has on our world today, and don’t overlook God’s hand in that history.

On Wednesday, Carissa shared with us that Satan is fighting a losing battle. We have won! And we are crowned princesses of the MOST HIGH !!!!

On Thursday, Michelle told us that HOPE DOES NOT PUT US TO SHAME. Do not let the trials we face cause us to cave. Let it bring us to our knees, to the feet of our Great Redeemer. In Him we receive our HOPE.

Girlfriends, for years I have believed the lies of the enemy. I believed that I could never be loved…that I would end up alone…that I am not good enough…. Ohhhhhh, BUT GOD….

Be blessed!

Edwina

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If you are interested in joining us for the “Captivating” online Bible study, click HERE to sign up. Once you register, we will email you further information.

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Captivating: Chapter 5 – There is Hope (pgs 89-91)

February 7, 2013 by

We have heard a lot this week about the hatred for us as women, and how hard the enemy is trying to get to us.  This is very important, something we need to be aware of so that we can be prepared when under attack.  But what I want to leave you with as we finish this chapter is that all is not lost.  There is hope.  When we put our faith in Jesus, there is always hope.

I love what the book of Romans has to day about hope:

 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:2-5

 Amen my sisters.  HOPE DOES NOT PUT US TO SHAME.  Do not let the trials we face cause you to cave.  Let it bring you to your knees, to the feet of our Great Redeemer.  In Him we receive our hope.  You are passionately loved by the God of the universe. And my wish for you is that, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

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Captivating_Page 91

LET’S PRAY

Dear Father, I have a special prayer today for every woman You have brought here. Some women have been wounded by the special hatred the enemy has for her. I pray that each one will see the enemies lies for what they are. Lord, reveal to them the awesome beauty, strength, love and power that You have blessed them with. Have them feel the truth and hope You have to offer.  In Your Heavenly Name I pray.  Amen.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

The authors of this book stated, “You really won’t understand your life as a woman until you understand this: You are passionately loved by the God of the Universe.  You are passionately hated by His Enemy.”

With that in mind, we also need to remember:  As the daughter of the most High King, we have been given all power over the Enemy!  We have been chosen the Most High King, sought out, pre-destined, from the beginning of time.  Jesus came so that we could be healed from our brokenness!  It’s time to run to Him!

Are you beginning to believe it?

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If you would like to join us for this amazing online Bible study, click HERE.  Once we receive your registration, we will email you further instructions.

If you would like to send Michelle a private a message in regards to this blog, please email her at: Michelle@GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com

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Captivating: Chapter 5 – A Special Hatred (pgs 82-85)

February 6, 2013 by

So I don’t know about you, but I’m a big-time people pleaser.  I’ll say “yes” to invitations that I know full well I will not attend just to avoid disappointing someone by saying “no, thanks.”  I want friends. I want love. I want peace.  I want to be liked.  I want to be accepted.

See, I can try to “people-please” all I want, but the fact is, I’ll always be hated.  And I’m not talking about by people (though that would be true, too).  I will always be hated by the one who hates God, even the slightest hint of Him.  I’m talking about our greatest enemy, Satan.

He absolutely despises me! And he hates you, too! Yep, I said it—HATE.  That’s a powerful word.  And the evil one has his reasons.  We, as women, have something that he loved and then lost because he fell from God.  We are beautiful, and we give life…very much like the image of God.  And how does Satan compare to you and me?  He is straight-up UGLY, and he is the definition of DEATH.

I want you all to do something for me right now.  Just hold your pointer finger up in the air. All right, now stand it up tall, and get it as close to God as you can.  Your finger, right now, represents your light.  It’s the light the world sees when there exists nothing but darkness.  It’s the light a stranger sees when you help someone in need, when you look someone in the eye, when you speak words of truth and life, when you exchange a smile or offer an encouraging word.  Do you all know the children’s song “This Little Light of Mine”? If you don’t, I encourage you to YouTube it.  One of the stanzas in the song reads:

Don’t let the Satan blow it out,

I’m going to let it shine.

Don’t let the Satan blow it out,

I’m going to let it shine.

Don’t let the Satan blow it out,

I’m going to let it shine.

Let it Shine,

Let it Shine,

Let it Shine. 

So do like this kiddy song says, and don’t let him blow out your light! Don’t believe the evil one.  He has many, many lies for you.  Lies that you’re too much, too flawed, too complicated, too emotional, too confusing, too unworthy, too boring, too crazy, too damaged, too too too too too too!

Guess what?!  Satan is TOO powerless against us.  He feeds us lies through our culture, our men, our own thoughts about ourselves, and our own situations.  He instills the fear of abandonment in us, a lie from the bowels of Hell.  How can we ever be abandoned when God is always with us?

 

Satan is fighting a losing battle.  We have won, and we are crowned princesses of the Most High. Hallelujah!

 

“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;

but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 15:55-58

 

Plain and simple, we have victory in Christ.  Put the fears and lies aside, and rest in that victory today.

Praise Him,

Carissa

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Let’s Pray

Dear Father, thank You for defeating every fear and every lie that Satan can throw at us.  Father, let us find ourselves in You each and every day, victorious, worthy, loved, and never to be abandoned.  Thank You for these promises.  In Your Precious Name, Amen.

Your Assignment

After you fill in the blank (either comment on the blog or in our private Facebook group), meditate on the power we have over Satan and his lies.  Like Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings, say with authority, “Leave me alone, snake!” #winning

Today, I am letting go of the lie that I am too _________.

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If you are interested in joining us for this amazing online Bible study, click HERE. Once we receive your registration, we will email you further details.

If you would like to send Carissa a private message in regards to this blog, please email her at: Carissa@GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com

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Captivating: Chapter 5 – Further Assault – What’s Going On

February 5, 2013 by

I love history.  I love to know how things were in time past, and how those things affected present times. I think that knowing about history is vital to understanding the world today; I feel that the same applies for us as people. Our history explains so much of our present.  It answers a good deal of the “why” questions, as individuals and as women as a whole. Our history may be different depending on the generation we were born in, the country we call home and even our family dynamics, but there is one common factor: women have not always been the most liked or respected of God’s creations. Stasi and John go as far as to use words such as “special hatred” and “diabolical” when referring to society’s general opinion of women.

No, the thought of our history does not bring on a warm fuzzy feeling, and it leaves me scratching my head in wonder of how thoughts and opinions could come to pass in the first place. But, like so many other things in life, I don’t have the answers and there is only one thing I am left to do. Turn to God.

There are three things that I can rely on when it comes to explanations I wish I had, but don’t.

1.         God allowed this history to be what it is for a reason.

2.         God knows what He’s doing.

3.         He’s doing it for a reason.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Despite what our history was…or how it leads those around us and in society to see/feel about women…please rest and be assured that God’s plan is playing out.  His will is being done and we are living according to His purpose.  Don’t look past the history, don’t look past the influence it has on our world today, and don’t overlook God’s hand in that history.

With love,

Tonya

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Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, we don’t know why things happen in this life. We don’t understand why people think the way they do, or have the opinions about women that they have. What we do know is that Your will is being done. “All things work together for good to those who love God.” Thank You for this promise.  Thank You for Your love.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Your Assignment:

Our history has been a troubled place. How has the past of women shaped your way of thinking, if at all?

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If you are interested in joining this online Bible study, please click HERE.  Once we receive your registration, we will email you further details.

If you are interested in sending a private message to Tonya in regards to this blog, please email her at:  TonyaEllison@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.

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Captivating: Chapter 5 – The Whole Story (A Special Hatred intro)

February 4, 2013 by

I can relate to Stasi’s story during the introduction of this chapter—not in relation to gardening—but to various other “assaults” in my life.  I can recall the first few events happening, words being said; in other words, the first few “hail stones” falling. I can recall watching the damage happening from afar but feeling as if I was powerless and couldn’t do anything. And I remember standing in the middle of the destruction, asking myself question after question. The loudest question being “Why?”

I am a firm believer in taking time in stepping back to look at the whole story. Taking the time to see all the who’s, what’s, when’s, where’s and why’s of a situation.  It doesn’t mean that I am going to change my opinion of a situation or change my actions, but I like to know the whole story.  In school when we were told to read a passage, I would read some above and below that passage to get a better understanding. When I read a Scripture in the Bible, I do the same. I read a few more verses above and below the highlighted one.

Looking more into the story at either end can answer questions we are holding in our minds, it can clarify confusion, or bring a hidden part of the situation to light. When I’m reading, I like to find one or two things in the material that especially stand out to me, that touch my heart. Today it was these words:

“But, in order to understand the lingering doubts in your own heart regarding your femininity, in order to understand why it is so rare to encounter a truly alive and vibrant woman, you must hear more of the story.”

We must hear more of the story. While doing this can answer questions and help to reveal some of the unknowns, it can also bring to light things we have tried so hard to forget. I urge each and every one of us to be willing to look at more of the story—more of our story.  I take great peace in knowing that this journey may be tough at times, but the Author of our stories is walking along with us.

All who hate me whisper against me,

Imagining the worst for me.

Psalm 41:7 (NLT)

Read more of the story…

I know you are pleased with me,
for you have not let my enemies triumph over me.
You have preserved my life because I am innocent;
you have brought me into your presence forever.

Psalm 41:11-12 (NLT)

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Let’s Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, our stories are sometimes things we choose to hide. To step back and look at the various assaults in our lives can bring pain that we have tried hard to hide, and forget. As we see in Your Scriptures, Lord, looking at the whole story can bring peace and understanding; it can bring healing. Give us courage and peace as we walk these journeys, as we look more into the story to find answers for questions we have had for a lifetime. Thank You, Lord, for walking with us. Thank You for not leaving us to do this alone. In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Your Assignment:

Looking into more of the story can be an intimidating task. What is your initial reaction on doing this? On looking at the whole story?

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