Virtuous Daughters

 ”He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 2:6

My precious Girls,

It says here that if we abide in Him, we ought to walk even as Yahshua walked. Do you know how He walked? Do you walk as He walked? Girls, I am not just talking about serving and being nice to your neighbor. I am talking about everything! Do you follow in Yahshua’s footsteps in ALL things? Or in just the areas that you find easy to follow in?

I’d like you to ponder these questions, along with searching your own heart and the life of the Messiah and see if you are following in His footsteps, in all things. Remember, in order for Yahshua to be our Messiah, He had to also follow in His Father’s footsteps, in all things that His Father commanded, being obedient in all things. Now I ask you again, do you follow in His footsteps?

Challenge #35

Good afternoon girls,

I pray this finds you doing very well and enjoying the warmth that Yahweh has blessing us with lately. I know I sure am!

It seems a little hard to believe my dear girls but, this is our last challenge for the 35 Day Challenges. L I will surely miss these times that I have had with all of you.  I know it has certainly blessed me and has definitely challenged me a great deal, as well.

Do we have what it will take? Part 2

How can we prepare for our future husband’s by learning submission now, as singles?  We can prepare for them, by being submissive to our fathers, in the here and now.  Girls, what are our actions like when we disagree with our fathers? 

Let’s say that your father and you do not believe exactly alike, scripturally.  You disagree with him and you think he is wrong.  He tells the family that he believes this is what you need to do.  So here you are, an “adult” (and if you are like me, you are now closer to thirty, than you are to twenty), and you say “Well, I have a choice.  I can obey my father, and go contrary to what I myself believe, OR, I can yield myself and my will, and submit myself to that of what my father believes is right.” A lot of girls will stand up and say “I disagree with you, so I am not going to do it” (you know, after all, I AM AN ADULT!).  Yet, that is not being submissive, is it? Now let me show you some other verses in scripture:

Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey (remember, submit can be replaced by obey and vice versa) your parents in Yahweh: for this is right.”

Colossians 3:20 “Children, obey your parents (and it goes on to explain…) in all things: for this is well pleasing unto Yahweh.”

You see something that is correlating to the verses dealing with the “wives”? It is almost the exact wording, yet now it is saying that it is the children who need to submit.  And it goes even further to explain just how much they need to submit to their parents (i.e. their fathers in this case).  It goes on to say “Children, you submit (obey) in ALL THINGS!” Not just the things you agree with, but you submit and obey in ALL things, because THIS is what is well pleasing to Me (Yahweh)! WOW!

Girls, this is God’s plan! When we learn to be submissive to our fathers, that submission will then be turned over to our husbands, and we won’t even have to really think about it. It will be an easier adjustment for us, because we have already learned a very important trait…submitting to a man (our fathers). 

And when other men see this in your lives (that you are very submissive to your own dear father), he will know without a shadow of a doubt, that you will be that way with him!  It is SO true that how a daughter treats her father, is EXACTLY like how she will later on treat her husband.  You are not going to change overnight.  It all begins here, at our homes and with our fathers.

And girls, the same goes for honoring, respecting, reverencing, and advancing his vision.  When we learn to do this for our fathers, we have learned how to do it for our future husbands, as well, regardless as to what his vision may be.  It is one and of the same.  Yes, their visions may be different (they most likely will!).  But, the important thing is that you have learned the basics of being able to further them, encourage them, honor them, reverence them and love them.  It all starts with our Daddy’s, girls.  The woman you are now is the woman you will still be when you are married.  Marriage is NOT going to change that!  So make who you want yourself to be when you are married and who God wants you to be, into that woman right now!  Become that woman, NOW! Don’t wait! God gave us these precious men to practice and learn from right now, so take full advantage of it!  It WILL pay off in the end!

And for those of you who have less than perfect fathers, or even unsaved fathers…the command still stands.  God did not give you permission to ignore such a command on the basis of your father not being “perfect” or not being “saved”.  It may be more challenging for you, yes, but God had a reason for blessing you with your father, and whether you realize it or not, he IS a blessing!  He knew what He was doing when He gave you your Daddy, and all He says you have to do, is do what He commands YOU to do.  Don’t worry about who your father is or isn’t.  That doesn’t matter.  Leave him in God’s hands.  And I might add that when fathers see this kind of change in their daughters, they WILL take notice of it!  Maybe God wants to use you, and your example, to bring your father to Him.  (1 Cor. 7:14)

So I want to challenge each of you dear girls, to strive to become who you want to be when you are married, right now. This is where it all starts, in your home as a single and with your own dear family.

All my love to each one of you,

Samantha

Challenge #34

As we come to a close here with our daily challenges, I wanted to close off with a couple more posts that I think will inspire you all.  May you all be richly blessed through them.

Do we have what it will take? Part 1

Do we have what it will take to be a submissive wife? An honoring wife? A wife that will reverence her husband? What about being wives that will back up our husband’s vision and jump on board with him concerning it?

As I sit here, I wonder just how many of us have what it will take.  Yet, we also know it is a requirement from God that we be that type of woman.  But can we? How will we ever know before we marry them? How will our future husbands know if we will back them up and be submissive wives to them, like we should be, before they ask or marry us?  These are some of the questions that I would like to look at this morning, as they have been on my mind lately.

First, let’s look at the scripture verses concerning submission.  This is the key area that I would like to look at right now.

Ephesians 5:22-23 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto Yahweh. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.”

Colossians 3:18 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in Yahweh.”

So we see here, that we are supposed to be submissive to our own husbands.  Yet, what does that really mean?  How can we tell that we will be submissive to them, when we really don’t even know what they will be asking of us?  I’m glad you asked! J

Let’s look at the definition for submission:

Strong’s #5293 and from #5259

  1) to arrange under, to subordinate

 2) to subject, put in subjection

 3) to subject one’s self, obey

 4) to submit to one’s control

 5) to yield to one’s admonition or advice

 6) to obey, be subject

This really sums up what submission really is.  When one submits themselves to another, they are yielding what they think and what they want to do, for what another thinks and wants done.  They are surrendering themselves (their will)… and obeying.  They are putting themselves under another, and following them…EVEN WHEN THEY DISAGREE! 

Girls, a lot of people confuse submission, with agreeing. They say “Oh, I am submissive to him, I completely agree with him!”  Girls, that’s NOT submission! That is agreeing with them.  When one agrees, they do not have to put themselves in subject to another.  They already whole heartily agree with what they want done. 

Instead, think of submission in this way.  Here we are; we are told to do something that we don’t agree with.  The question now comes down to, “Will I surrender what I think, yield to what they think and obey them?” When we choose to lay down what we think, and choose to be put under someone else’s control…being willing to yield ourselves and our desires…that is submission.  It is when we whole heartily disagree, yet are still willing to lay that disagreement down, and we then choose to still cheerfully follow another’s decision and obey them. 

We have not even come close to learning submission, until we come to a place where we find ourselves in disagreement with another above us, and are willingly yield ourselves and submit…obey them with a smile…regardless of what we might feel or think.

This is true submission.   And you ask, “Well, yes, this is true submission, but how can I learn this before I am even married?”

Simple; God, in His wonderful design, gave us a wonderful and I might add, a very human man, to learn this very important trait from, so that when it came time for us to be married to yet another wonderful, and again, very human man, we would be ready and armed with the needful requirements of the trait of submission!! J 

And you are saying “Whoa! Wait a minute! Explain what you are talking about! What man were we placed under to learn this from?”  Yes, I am smiling.  And yes, I think a lot of you can guess who I am talking about.  God gave us our fathers to train us and to be our training ground for marriage.  No, they too, are not perfect.  They too, are very human…as will be our wonderful husbands.  Yet, God placed us ladies under some very wonderful men, knowing full well that we are both human beings and that means that we will both fail at some point.  It’s just a given. 

Yet, this didn’t matter, nor does this change a thing.  It was still and is still God’s perfect plan for all of us.  And yes, this means that we could be submitting to a man that will fail, that is not doing what he should be doing, but never in God’s word, does God say “And ladies, if your man does something that you disagree with and don’t think is right, than you stand right up and put him in his place and DO NOT submit yourselves!  After all, he may be sinning!”  Just the opposite is true! He said, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, AS UNTO YAHWEH”.  Do you know what this verse means, my friends? It means that we are to submit ourselves unto our husbands, as if it were God standing there!  That is the extent that we are supposed to be submissive to our husbands!  We are to submit to our husbands, AS UNTO YAHWEH! As if we were submitting to God!  For you see, when we submit to our husbands, and they are submitting themselves unto God, we are then submitting ourselves to God.  God just gave us a chain of authority to do it in.  (In other words, when you submit to your husbands, you ARE submitting to God!) Woman submits to Man, and Man submits himself to God.   And when we women stop submitting and take over ruling, it messes this whole thing up.  Now it would be Man à Woman à God.  See a problem with that?  God said that He would deal with the man if the man was in the wrong.  That is solely God’s job, not ours.  Man is directly under Him and if the man is doing something contrary to God’s will, He will deal with him directly.  But, how can He, if we stubborn woman get in His way?  Instead, now we are both out of God’s will, instead of just the man.  Now both the man and woman are not living their lives according to scripture, and the whole thing breaks down.  Instead, we are to just focus on what we are supposed to do, and leave the men up to God.

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And this is my challenge to you this morning.  Start learning and applying submission in your lives, dear daughters, as this is a trait that every wife needs to have under her belt, before she can then be married.  Take advantage of this training ground that Yahweh has placed right in front of you!  You will be forever blessed if you can learn this one trait, my girls.  Pray and ask Yahweh to help you learn it.  Ask Him to help you to become that submissive daughter that you need to become.

Yahweh richly bless you, my girls.

Until tomorrow,

Samantha

Challenge #33

Greetings dear girls,

We have been going over some very thought provoking questions that another woman asked me, and since I have had to answer these questions myself, I wanted to share them with you, in case you too, also have been faced with these questions.  I believe we are now on question #7.  I pray these questions and answers will continue to inspire you all and challenge you in your lives and walks with our Messiah!

Question #7

“Is it wrong if our fathers/husbands ask us to write something for them, under their name, with them pre-viewing it, to help them out because they just don’t have the time to do it”?

Absolutely not! This is our job! We are to further our men! We are to be their helpmeets! If this is a task that they need us to do for them (or help them with), with them overseeing it, by all means, do it! You would be in the wrong if you didn’t.

But, I think that this is a whole lot different from trying to teach the women God has placed under us about doctrinal type things. One ministry you are doing for your husband, basically, being his right-arm in his ministry (which they were given the mandate to teach others, men and women). The other is a ministry you are doing, teaching other women. Do you see the difference? Yes, those same women may read what you are doing for your husband. But, it is now your husband speaking and teaching, not you. It is your husband’s name that is being spread abroad, not your own, so you are indeed furthering him and his name. And indeed, this would also be in line with keeping Titus 2 about women, and how they are to teach women to love their husbands, and to be their helpmeets, as you are clearly teaching them by your example, by being a true helpmeet to your own father/husband. You are also teaching those women different ways that they, too, can help their fathers/husbands, as well. See the difference here?

So, by all means, dear ladies, do this if you are asked and it can be a blessing to those precious men God has blessed you with! And remember to be HIS helpmeet, not another ladies husband’s helpmeet! There is a big difference. You go further your own man and help your own man, and you pour your life into that dear man! And if you do this, dear sisters, you WILL be blessed for it!

May God richly bless you all and may this series help answer some of your questions about “what do I do in “such and such” circumstance.” And please, if you have any other questions that you have had, please feel free to ask them. I will certainly do my best to answer them.

May you have a wonderful day,

Samantha

Challenge #32

Good morning my dear girls,

Happy New Years!!! I pray this year will find you all drawn ever closer to our precious Lord and Saviour!  It’s so hard to believe that we are now in 2010! How the years fly on by.

So, are you ready for today’s challenge? I know I am!

Question #6

“Is it wrong for a woman to post her opinions if her opinions match those of her husband or fathers?”

This kind of goes with our last question, question #5, but since it has been asked, and I know it is a question that a lot of us have had at one time or another, I wanted to address it separately. J

I would say yes, it is wrong, if those opinions do not match the things that God has told us to teach the other women (in Titus 2). Again, God hasn’t given this responsibility to us women, but to the men and we are easily deceived.  But more than that, if we teach other women different doctrines or opinions then their own fathers/husbands are teaching them, then we are teaching them something contrary to what their authority figures are teaching them, thus encouraging them to rebel, and so we are now doing the exact opposite than what God has commanded us to teach them…to love, honor and obey their heads.  Do you see why I said, I don’t believe this would be right? It isn’t just because I believe it would be wrong to let another one know what I (and my family) believe, but I do not want to teach them to go contrary to what their fathers/husbands are trying to teach them, as that WOULD be wrong, and I believe that would now be going against the mandate that we as women were given, concerning the teaching of the younger women.

This is the same reason why my father will often refuse to teach other women by themselves, but will often tell her to bring her husband with her, and will then go to her husband and make sure he does not mind my father teaching her (in his presence).  This way the husband can then refute anything that my father says, that is not in line with what he believes.  Even they are supposed to teach the women to stay under their authority.

I have seen way too many women, who rebel against their fathers/husbands, simply because they hear another women talking about what she and her husband believe (or just what she herself believes), and I think this is so sad.  Each man was given his own family to teach and train them in the word of God.  Never were the women told to teach other women what she should be doing, concerning spiritual matters like these.  We were given specific things to teach other women, and I would highly recommend, that before you post anything on your blogs, you go over those mandates that we as women were given, in regards to what we were supposed to be teaching other women to do, and see if what you are writing about, is in accordance to those scripture passages. 

What I like to ask myself when writing something is, “Will this encourage a women to follow her authority, or discourage her?” “Will this teach a woman to love her family more, or rebel against them?” “Will this teach a woman to be a “keeper of the home” or go out and work in a man’s world, leaving her family behind?” (And I should clarify something here. I do not believe it is wrong for a woman to work in her family’s owned and run business, helping her father further his vision.  I believe that is much different, than just going and getting a job, because you want to work outside of the home. There is a time and a place for it, yes, but generally speaking, we are called to be “keepers of the home”, and this is what we are to teach others to do.)

Another thing that I want you girls to think about is, what you talk about with other girls.  Do you speak about how you disagree with your father on “such and such” of a point? Do you lift your father up in conversations, or do you bring him down? What is the outlook that you give about your dear father, to those around you?  Do they even realize that you disagree with him on any given issue? If they do, my girls, than you are doing something contrary to what Yahweh wants you to do.  Think back in your mind, and see if what you are talking about around your friends is in keeping with scripture.  Think about what your future husband would think, if he heard you speaking about him that way (replace your father, with your husband, as what you do in regards to your father, you will do in regards to your husband one day). 

This is my challenge to you today.  Think about what you write, what you say, what you think etc.  See if there is something there that needs to be changed, and then ask Yahweh to help you make that change, and be determined to make that change in your life.

May each of you be a blessing to all those around you, teaching all those around you by your example, what it means to be a set apart daughter.

Yahweh bless,

Samantha