Read Titus 2

Titus is one of those books in the Bible that if we flip through the pages too quickly we will fly right past it. It is a very short book in the New Testament, right after 2 Timothy and right before Philemon. (Now you are wondering where Philemon is!)

Just because Titus is short and not as frequently referenced does not mean that its words are any less important. A friend of mine sent me something yesterday that made me read Titus chapter 2. One verse in particular explains the importance of what older Christian women should teach younger Christian women. Take a look:

"That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, [To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus 2: 4-5 KJV

I would consider myself a younger Christian woman, and I would like to take the opportunity to encourage the older Christian women to pour forth the wisdom that God has given you over the years. I think that many older women today think the younger women are not interested in being taught by an older generation. But younger women do want the leadership and teaching older women have to offer.

Maybe God is asking you to teach. Maybe God is asking you to learn something new. No matter what He is calling you to do, women of all ages can help each other fulfill God's purpose in our lives.

Tell Someone

"Sing praises to the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done." Psalm 9:11

What has God done in your life?

You should be thinking of many things right now... If nothing is coming to mind you need to reevaluate because you have probably overlooked God's hand working in your life.

God is often very subtle when He works. Sometimes we don't see the changes as they are happening. And then one day we look back at what has happened in our lives and we say, "Oh my! Thank you God for doing all of that!"

Are you telling anyone what God has done in your life?

When you tell others about what the Lord has done you are praising God and encouraging other people all at the same time. Others are encouraged to hear about God's works because it strengthens their own faith. Let's get more excited about the things God does for us, and tell more people about it!

Jabez's Prayer

"Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.' And God granted his request." 1 Chronicles 4:10

Did you noticed that the words"God granted his request" are at the very end of this verse?

Now look at this verse:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7

Jesus spoke these words that are recorded in Matthew 7:7. -- Jabez's prayer is a good example of asking for God's will in our lives, and the Lord answering our prayer. We can't read verses like these and start praying for anything and everything just because God has promised to grant our requests. God is not a fairy godmother that is granting wishes. He wants to pour out blessings into our lives when our requests align with His perfect will for our lives. When we start praying how the Holy Spirit leads us, and not just how we want things to go, we better watch out, because our requests are going to be granted. That is God's promise to us many times in the Bible!

Avoid the Conversation

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'
The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'
'You will not surely die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." Genesis 3: 1-6

Have you ever had a conversation that you wished would have never occurred? You ended up wishing that you go back because your conversation caused you to get involved in something that you had no business with. Well, Eve surely felt the same way.

Eve should have kept her mouth shut and walked away from that serpent. Sounds easy to do, right? Well, that's the thing, its not always that easy. When satan came to her as a serpent he started the conversation in a way that challenged Eve's understanding of the rules given to her by God. She probably felt like she was doing the noble thing in answering the serpent to set the record straight of what God's rules actually were. However, when she became engaged in a conversation with the serpent she got in way over her head.

The best option is to never start the conversation. The enemy attacks our thoughts all the time and we have to refuse the thought instead of starting a mental dialogue that is going to end up causing sin and pain.

The Lord's Work

"Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58

Have you ever done work that was in vain? What if you planted a garden and someone came along, dug it up and destroyed it? You would feel like your work was in vain. All those hours of planning and planting were a waste because your work is gone. When our work is done in vain it makes us feel useless and discouraged.

Well, here's some good news! Anything and everything the Lord asks us to do will not be in vain. Woohoo! Now that is a promise I can stand on. Our hearts desire to serve the Lord and do the work of His kingdom. What a promise it is to know that the work God has us do will always generate a good result.

I hope that you are encouraged now, because here comes the part that will require some faith and strength. When we do the Lord's work we don't always get to see the fruit of our labor. Sometimes we do and that is great! But most of the time we don't. Bummer, I know.

But don't be discouraged. Remember that garden you planted? That mean person came along and dug it up and destroyed your work. Well, those seeds that you so carefully planted were tossed somewhere. A bird may have eaten one and fed her babies. Others may have been scattered and took root in a different place. The point is that you didn't see your work grow and develop into something beautiful or meaningful, but just because you don't see the results doesn't mean it never happened.

When we don't get instant results we have to flip open our Bible and read 1 Corinthians 15:58 and say, "Ok Lord, I may not know why you had me do that but I know it was for Your perfect purpose."

Lightning

"When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses." Jeremiah 51:16

It stormed at our house last night. When I was a child I was very scared of thunderstorms. Thunder and lightning would cause me to freeze in fear. I am thankful that I have overcome that fear, but intense storms still rattle me a bit.

Now that I am older, when a storm makes me nervous, it is because of a reverential fear of Almighty God who has created the storm. Sometimes it sounds like God is unleashing his wrath on the world when it storms so loudly! God is in control of the weather and I think that the weather is an excellent example of the power that God has over men.

People get caught up in their day-to-day lives that they forget how powerful God is. This has happened to me at times in my life when I got busy with kids, responsibilities, work, family, friends, or anything else that requires my time and attention. Sometimes it takes that one storm to watch God light up the night sky with streaks of lightning, and the thunder to boom as if God were speaking to us directly to make us stop and remember just how powerless we are. That is when we say, "God, You are so great and mighty! Thank You for being my Lord!"

I have included a music video called "Light Up the Sky" by a group called The Afters. They are a Christian music group and I absolutely love this song. Listen to it and let me know what you think!

Heaven's Grocery Store

"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35

We eat food and drink to sustain our human bodies because we cannot live without food and water. Well, our spiritual bodies are similar because they are dead without Jesus. Jesus is the food and drink that keeps our spiritual bodies alive and healthy and gives them eternal life.

No matter how much food and drink we consume on earth, our human body will die at some point. However, consuming the spiritual bread that is Jesus will prevent our spiritual death from ever occurring.

I saw this little poem yesterday and I just had to share it with you because it got me thinking about how thankful I am that Jesus is our bread of life! (I did not write this poem, and I do not know who did, so we'll call it anonymous.)

Heaven's Grocery Store

I was walking down life's highway a long time ago,
One day I saw a sign that read "Heaven's Grocery Store."
As I got a little closer, the door came open wide.
And when I came to myself, I was standing there inside.

I saw a host of angels, they were standing everywhere,
One handed me a basket and said, "My child, shop with care."
Everything a Christian needed was in that grocery store,
And all you couldn't carry, you could come back for more.

First, I got some patience, love was in the same row,
Further down was understanding, you need that wherever you go.
I got a box or two of wisdom and a bag or two of faith,
I just couldn't miss the Holy Ghost, for it was all over the place.

I stopped to get some strength and courage, to help me run the race.
By then my basket was getting full, but I remembered I needed some grace.
I didn't forget salvation, for salvation, that was free,
So I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me.
Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery bill,
For I thought I had everything to do my Master's will.

As I went up the aisle, I saw prayer and just had to put that in,
For I knew when I stepped outside, I would run right into sin.
Peace and joy were all plentiful, they were on the last shelf,
Song and praises were hanging near, so I just helped myself.

Then I said to the angel, "Now how much do I owe?"
He just smiled and said, "Just take them everywhere you go."
Again, I smiled at him and said, "How much do I owe?"
He smiled again and said, "My child, Jesus paid your bill a long time ago."