TRUE WOMAN 101: DIVINE DESIGN GATHERING

Good Morning Ladies,

Just a quick note to remind everyone that our next gathering will be this Monday night, July 1st at 7:00 p.m. at the church!  The meeting will only be an hour long and will featuring the teaching of Voddie Baucham, Pastor at Grace Family Baptist Church.  He was a keynote speaker at the Shepherd's Conference in 2012.  The title of the message we will hear is entitled: 

"When Life Is Less Than Ideal"

There will be a time of dessert and fellowship for anyone that wishes to stick around.  Please join us even if you are not up to date in your workbook.  I believe you will be edified by the video!

Week 4- Snake In My Garden

Hi Ladies,

I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed this weeks study.  Well, to say that I enjoyed it is not quite right.  It was indeed painful.  I really relate to Eve.  Especially the way Nancy and Mary broke it down for us on page 104,

 "Listen to the lie, dwell on it, believe it, and sooner or later you'll act on it.  Act on a lie repeatedly, and you will find yourself on a path to bondage".

It doesn't have to be anything big.  Maybe you believe that no woman should be seen without makeup on or that your husband is a tyrant with the finances so you don't share EVERYTHING with him.

This morning I was on Facebook looking at pictures of my 30th class reunion this weekend that I didn't get to attend and ended up on my sister's page.  As many of you know, my sister just recently married her significant other (much to my delight)!  I sent her a quick text thinking I was so smart.  The text read,

"U need to update ur fb w/ ur new name"

I immediately received this reply:

"I didn't change my name"

My sister has had that name since she was 17 and has climbed the career ladder quite nicely with it.  (She is a V.P. of her company and has over 250 employees under her).

Should she have changed her name?  Come on ladies, let's have a discussion on this or any other topic!!!

The Fierce Woman's Curse

Posted on 08.11.11 by Kimberly Wagner | Twitter: @KimberlyWagner7

Apparently Eve was no push-over or faint-hearted wallflower. She was bold enough to hold a conversation with a talking serpent, but foolish enough to make an independent and rebellious choice. Her choice led to her curse.

Her Curse
The curse, which every woman since Eve has had to contend with, is found in Genesis 3:16:

“To the woman he said, 'I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.'”

When I was younger, I thought the statement “Your desire shall be for your husband . . .” referred to having some kind of insatiable desire for my husband either emotionally or physically. But when I dug a little deeper and checked out some reputable commentaries, I discovered the curse contains an interesting Hebrew word that is found only one other time in Scripture.

In Genesis 4:7 we find the only other time the word translated “desire” is used, and it’s in reference to sin wanting to dominate or overpower Cain:

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

According to Pastor John MacArthur:

“This interpretation of the curse is based upon the identical Hebrew words and grammar being used in Genesis 4:7 to show the conflict man will have with sin as it seeks to rule him . . . because of sin and the curse, the man and the woman will face struggles in their own relationship. Sin has turned the harmonious system of God-ordained roles into distasteful struggles of self-will. Life-long companions—husbands and wives—will need God’s help in getting along as a result. The woman’s desire will be to lord it over her husband, but the husband will rule by divine design.”

Her Battle
The flip-side of the woman’s calling to be a helper is the curse of . . . controlling. The ingredients God has placed within woman which aid her in being an effective helper can be perverted into a dangerous tool of domination which she uses to “whip her man into shape.”

For example, a Fierce Woman’s

• “Power of Influence” can evolve into the “Power of Pressure”
• “Gift of Encouragement” can morph into the “Habit of Nagging”
• “Keen Intellect” can degenerate into a “Sense of Superiority”
• “Passionate Exuberance” can become an “Overwhelming Intensity”
• “Godly Wisdom” can become his worst nightmare as an“Intimidation Factor”

I’ve been guilty of each of these destructive tendencies, but thankfully, we have a resource for victory over the curse! "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).

God has given the victory, but I’ve learned I must cry out to Him for grace and help when I’m tempted to control my husband rather than being his true helpmate. Can any of you relate?

John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 21.

Divine Design 1st Meeting Tonight!

Good Morning Ladies,

I am so excited about our first opportunity to come together tonight!  For those of you who are wondering how the meetings will go, there is no set pattern that we must stick to.  We have the flexibility to mix it up.  The meeting tonight will be about an hour and will feature a video, discussion  over chapters 1-3 and a blog demonstration. Refreshments will be served at the close of the meeting for all who would like to stick around and fellowship a little bit.. So what do you need to bring tonight? Just bring your Divine Design workbook, your Bible and a pen. As you have seen by now, in your workbook there is a page for jounaling at the end of every chapter.  You can use that tonight to take notes or you may bring a personal journal.  That's it!  See you tonight!