Saturday, January 22, 2011

What Does Your Home Communicate (Day 18)

She’s not just letting her family grow up. She is watching as they grow up.
She’s like a watchman.

  • She watches over the affairs, the ways of her household. 
  • She’s alert to the condition of her home. 
  • She knows what’s going on. She knows the needs of her family. 
  • She knows the temperature, the climate, of her home. 
  • She’s tuned to changes in her children’s lives

Now that doesn’t mean you nag. It doesn’t mean you’re the Holy Spirit in their lives. You think before you say it, and you wait to see if it’s God’s time and make sure you’re perceiving it correctly. But as you’re watchful, you’re being a helper to your husband; you’re being a helper to your family.
Here’s a woman that as she watches over the ways of her household, she doesn’t miss anything. She’s alert to the details of what’s happening in her family—not so that she can be the controller of her family, but that she can be a better servant to her family.
Now some of this you can’t know by looking. But I tell you that as you pray for your children, and as you’re in the Word, the Holy Spirit will help you know what you might not otherwise be able to know.
God will give you wisdom. God will give you insight into what’s happening in the lives of your children. He’ll show you what to watch out for. Parenting and being a wife, being a virtuous woman is something you do by walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.
There’s a time to open your door for hospitality. There’s a time to say, our family needs to be together. We’ve been coming and going too much. That’s watching well to the ways of your home. And, of course, you’re not doing this independently of your husband. You’re doing it in partnership with him as his helper.
It may be that your husband at some point doesn’t see what you see. Then don’t nag him about it. Make your point, then back off and let the Lord be the one who makes the point to your husband.
So when necessary, sound the alarm to your husband, but don’t keep your finger on the alarm. Let it go and let the Lord be the one who puts that on your husband’s heart.
1 Tim 5: not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies. You see, when you’re not occupied with doing the things that God has created you to do; when you have time on your hands that God didn’t intend to be used as something else, then you’re going to fill that time with something. And often what we fill it with is talking.
Women who have a lot of time to talk on the telephone may be missing out on some of the things they should be doing with that time. And what happens when we have a lot of time to talk? We tend to become gossips and busybodies.
Paul goes on to say, “saying things that they ought not to say.”
You see, if you’re idle, you won’t be able to manage your house. You won’t be able to look well to the ways of your household. But if you’re diligent, then you will be able to provide the kind of organization and the management and the leadership that your home needs.
If you’re idle, things in your house are going to be out of control. If you’re spending your time doing things that aren’t the thing to do for this season of life, then you’ll find your house just spinning out of control.
That’s where you find women who say, “My house is a mess. I can’t get it cleaned up. I can’t get it organized. My life is a mess. My life is spun out of control. My children are out of control.” These tend to be women who are out of control because they’ve been idle.
So you see the contrast here? If you’re idle, you won’t be able to manage your house well.
So Proverbs says, this woman does manage her house well. “She watches well to the ways of her household because she does not eat the bread of idleness” (verse 27).

“Why I Love My Mom.” 
Mom and dad were watching TV when mom said, "I’m tired. It’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed." So she went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches, rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons in bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.
She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the wash, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the games pieces left on the table and put the telephone book back into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied the waste basket, and hung up a towel to dry.
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled out a text book hiding out under the chair. She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.
Mom then washed her face, put on moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth, and did her nails. Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed." "I’m on my way," she said. She put some water into the dog’s dish and called the cat in, then made sure the doors were locked. She look in on each of the kids, turned out a bedside lamp, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks in the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still up doing homework.
Back in her own room she set the alarm, laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her list of things to do for tomorrow. About that time, dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular, "I’m going to bed," and he did without another thought.
-some girl

She’s a hard worker, always on the alert, always watching out to make sure that her family’s needs are met.
Because, you see, if a woman is not doing what God called her to do in the managing of her household, if she’s not busy doing the work God has assigned to her, then she will be idle and her household, whatever that is at that season of her life, is going to be out of order. Then the enemy can point a finger and say, “That’s a Christian?” It won’t just be a negative reflection on her, it will reflect negatively on her husband, on her children, and most importantly, on Christ.

Through a repentant heart and a teachable humble spirit, all of us can learn to acquire those skills and those disciplines that we need to have to be the women God wants us to be. Go to the Lord first as this woman is doing and say, “Lord, I don’t want to be this way. I want to be a disciplined woman. I don’t want to be idle. I want to train my children in the right ways, but I need your grace.” Then find a woman who knows God and walks with God and is disciplined in the areas where you struggle and say, “Would you help me?” Humble yourself.
You may say, “I just couldn’t bare to bring someone else into my home.” Humble yourself. Get somebody. Some people just are born organizers. I don’t know that anybody is born disciplined, that’s something that the spirit develops in our lives. But there are some people who are a little more natural about organizing their schedule and their day and their environment.
Learn how to clean my house, how to organize my surroundings, how to keep my body under control?” Just disciplines, basic disciplines of life.  -when God speaks to you about something, it’s not too late to deal with it
if you don’t, just a reminder of the consequences. Your husband will reap those consequences; your children will reap those consequences, and the enemy, Satan himself, will have ammunition. He’ll have ammunition to keep you defeated, to keep you in bondage as this woman I just read. She’s miserable because the enemy’s accusing her.
He's saying, “Look at you. You can’t get your life together.” But there are other people looking at her. The enemy is using her lack of discipline, her idleness as an occasion to make Christ look bad.
Now, I don’t want to put you on a guilt trip with that. I just want to say that’s why a lot is at stake when we talk about becoming women who reflect the beauty and the heart of Christ.
It’s not just so we can be happier. It’s because there’s a gospel that’s involved here. The way that we live and the way we function and the way our homes look all reflect on the gospel of Christ.
That’s why I want my surroundings and the way I function and the way I work at my schedule and the way I use my time, everything about my environment to say, this is what God looks like. This is His beauty. These are His ways, and to make those ways attractive to a watching world.

     Jesus, help me to be more like this. Help me to have Your heart so I care about the details and can see the spiritual significance behind them. Help me to manage well the affairs of my household and be in tune with Nate's needs and also be close to You so You can instruct me throughout the day. I love You, Jesus :)
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Saturday, January 22, 2011

What Does Your Home Communicate (Day 18)

Posted by Morgan at 5:53 PM
She’s not just letting her family grow up. She is watching as they grow up.
She’s like a watchman.

  • She watches over the affairs, the ways of her household. 
  • She’s alert to the condition of her home. 
  • She knows what’s going on. She knows the needs of her family. 
  • She knows the temperature, the climate, of her home. 
  • She’s tuned to changes in her children’s lives

Now that doesn’t mean you nag. It doesn’t mean you’re the Holy Spirit in their lives. You think before you say it, and you wait to see if it’s God’s time and make sure you’re perceiving it correctly. But as you’re watchful, you’re being a helper to your husband; you’re being a helper to your family.
Here’s a woman that as she watches over the ways of her household, she doesn’t miss anything. She’s alert to the details of what’s happening in her family—not so that she can be the controller of her family, but that she can be a better servant to her family.
Now some of this you can’t know by looking. But I tell you that as you pray for your children, and as you’re in the Word, the Holy Spirit will help you know what you might not otherwise be able to know.
God will give you wisdom. God will give you insight into what’s happening in the lives of your children. He’ll show you what to watch out for. Parenting and being a wife, being a virtuous woman is something you do by walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.
There’s a time to open your door for hospitality. There’s a time to say, our family needs to be together. We’ve been coming and going too much. That’s watching well to the ways of your home. And, of course, you’re not doing this independently of your husband. You’re doing it in partnership with him as his helper.
It may be that your husband at some point doesn’t see what you see. Then don’t nag him about it. Make your point, then back off and let the Lord be the one who makes the point to your husband.
So when necessary, sound the alarm to your husband, but don’t keep your finger on the alarm. Let it go and let the Lord be the one who puts that on your husband’s heart.
1 Tim 5: not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies. You see, when you’re not occupied with doing the things that God has created you to do; when you have time on your hands that God didn’t intend to be used as something else, then you’re going to fill that time with something. And often what we fill it with is talking.
Women who have a lot of time to talk on the telephone may be missing out on some of the things they should be doing with that time. And what happens when we have a lot of time to talk? We tend to become gossips and busybodies.
Paul goes on to say, “saying things that they ought not to say.”
You see, if you’re idle, you won’t be able to manage your house. You won’t be able to look well to the ways of your household. But if you’re diligent, then you will be able to provide the kind of organization and the management and the leadership that your home needs.
If you’re idle, things in your house are going to be out of control. If you’re spending your time doing things that aren’t the thing to do for this season of life, then you’ll find your house just spinning out of control.
That’s where you find women who say, “My house is a mess. I can’t get it cleaned up. I can’t get it organized. My life is a mess. My life is spun out of control. My children are out of control.” These tend to be women who are out of control because they’ve been idle.
So you see the contrast here? If you’re idle, you won’t be able to manage your house well.
So Proverbs says, this woman does manage her house well. “She watches well to the ways of her household because she does not eat the bread of idleness” (verse 27).

“Why I Love My Mom.” 
Mom and dad were watching TV when mom said, "I’m tired. It’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed." So she went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches, rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons in bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.
She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the wash, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the games pieces left on the table and put the telephone book back into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied the waste basket, and hung up a towel to dry.
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled out a text book hiding out under the chair. She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.
Mom then washed her face, put on moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth, and did her nails. Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed." "I’m on my way," she said. She put some water into the dog’s dish and called the cat in, then made sure the doors were locked. She look in on each of the kids, turned out a bedside lamp, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks in the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still up doing homework.
Back in her own room she set the alarm, laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her list of things to do for tomorrow. About that time, dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular, "I’m going to bed," and he did without another thought.
-some girl

She’s a hard worker, always on the alert, always watching out to make sure that her family’s needs are met.
Because, you see, if a woman is not doing what God called her to do in the managing of her household, if she’s not busy doing the work God has assigned to her, then she will be idle and her household, whatever that is at that season of her life, is going to be out of order. Then the enemy can point a finger and say, “That’s a Christian?” It won’t just be a negative reflection on her, it will reflect negatively on her husband, on her children, and most importantly, on Christ.

Through a repentant heart and a teachable humble spirit, all of us can learn to acquire those skills and those disciplines that we need to have to be the women God wants us to be. Go to the Lord first as this woman is doing and say, “Lord, I don’t want to be this way. I want to be a disciplined woman. I don’t want to be idle. I want to train my children in the right ways, but I need your grace.” Then find a woman who knows God and walks with God and is disciplined in the areas where you struggle and say, “Would you help me?” Humble yourself.
You may say, “I just couldn’t bare to bring someone else into my home.” Humble yourself. Get somebody. Some people just are born organizers. I don’t know that anybody is born disciplined, that’s something that the spirit develops in our lives. But there are some people who are a little more natural about organizing their schedule and their day and their environment.
Learn how to clean my house, how to organize my surroundings, how to keep my body under control?” Just disciplines, basic disciplines of life.  -when God speaks to you about something, it’s not too late to deal with it
if you don’t, just a reminder of the consequences. Your husband will reap those consequences; your children will reap those consequences, and the enemy, Satan himself, will have ammunition. He’ll have ammunition to keep you defeated, to keep you in bondage as this woman I just read. She’s miserable because the enemy’s accusing her.
He's saying, “Look at you. You can’t get your life together.” But there are other people looking at her. The enemy is using her lack of discipline, her idleness as an occasion to make Christ look bad.
Now, I don’t want to put you on a guilt trip with that. I just want to say that’s why a lot is at stake when we talk about becoming women who reflect the beauty and the heart of Christ.
It’s not just so we can be happier. It’s because there’s a gospel that’s involved here. The way that we live and the way we function and the way our homes look all reflect on the gospel of Christ.
That’s why I want my surroundings and the way I function and the way I work at my schedule and the way I use my time, everything about my environment to say, this is what God looks like. This is His beauty. These are His ways, and to make those ways attractive to a watching world.

     Jesus, help me to be more like this. Help me to have Your heart so I care about the details and can see the spiritual significance behind them. Help me to manage well the affairs of my household and be in tune with Nate's needs and also be close to You so You can instruct me throughout the day. I love You, Jesus :)

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