May We All Be Like Esther

"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord
looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
Becoming Esther
by Charo & Paul Washer

"Before a girl's turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she
had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments
prescribed for the women, six months in oil of myrrh and
six with perfumes and cosmetics. And this is how she
would go to the king...
Esther 2:12-13

I have always been amazed at the kind of preparation
that the future queen Esther had to go through before
she was able to come before King Xerxes. Would
any of us want to go through twelve months of beauty
treatments before meeting the man of our dreams? Probably
not, but then again, imagine the possibilities. One year set
aside for one sole purpose - becoming all you can be for the
one you love the most. Precious time to cultivate beauty, to
make an investment in education and etiquette, to strengthen
virtue, and build character.

The preparation of Esther reminds me of that
precious time between the awakening of desire in a young
womans heart to share her life with a mate and the
moment she walks down the aisle. For many, this time of
preparation is seen as nothing more than a time of waiting.
Single women often see themselves as sitting on the shelf
while life passes them by, or as sitting on the bench while
others play the game. They do not realize that they are
wasting the most important time of their lives, they are
robbing themselves of great joy and reward, they are
robbing their future husbands of a more virtuous woman,
and they are robbing God of a servant through whom He
desires to do great things.

As Esther had to be prepared before she could be queen
of an entire realm, so the woman must be prepared before
she can embark on one of the most important and difficult
callings in life - marriage and motherhood. Esther had to
learn the ways of the kingdom to which she belonged, she had
to learn the manners of court life, the intellectual, emotional
and spiritual challenges of high position. To put it simply,
Esther had to be transformed from a young lady into a queen
before she could wear the title and fulfill the role. In the same
way, the single Christian woman must learn the ways of the
Kingdom of Heaven before she ever unites with the one that
God is preparing for her. She must be prepared intellectually,
emotionally and spiritually, not by court attendants in
some pagan temple, but by God Himself, His Word, and by
other godly women who have been prepared before her.

Singleness is not a waste of time or a sitting on the sidelines,
but a time that God has set aside especially for the
woman, to make her into what He wants her to be, and to use
her in ways that just might be impossible after marriage. Singleness
is a time in which a woman is to cultivate the virtues that
pertain to being a woman of God, so that she can offer to her
future husband and the world something more than just a
pretty face.

Remember in your singleness that you are not the only
one single, but your future husband is passing through the
same stage as you. Would it not be a terrible thing to finally
meet the man who is to become your husband only to find
out that he has used his singleness to serve God and to prepare
himself to be a better husband for you. And yet you did
not use the freedom of your singleness to serve the Lord, nor
did you take advantage of the training that God offered you?
Would it not also be a terrible thing to realize that your
husband spent his days as a single man praying daily for your
needs and the work of God in your life, while you neither
prayed for him, nor responded to the grace of God that was
given you as a result of his prayers.

It is a wonderful thing when God blesses a woman with a
husband. That special someone who is just perfect for her
in that he has been carefully and thoughtfully designed by
God to be united as one with her. It is such a joy for the
woman to look back and remember how God enabled her to
wait on Him and that He was faithful to bless. It is still an even
greater joy for her to know that her time as a single woman
was also a time of seeking God and being faithful to Him and
His purpose. That she did not for one moment wish to flee
that state, but desired only to trust in God and wait upon His
gracious sovereignty.

By no means is it a tragedy to be a single Christian woman,
but the way of the world has once again infiltrated Christianity
with the false idea that it is. One of the greatest lies is that
if you do not have someone or are not actively looking,
there is something wrong with you. Another lie is that the
single woman should be dating around as though looking for
a husband were the same as shopping in a mall. Still another
even stronger lie is that the single woman should be giving her
affections away indiscriminately so that she may be more "experienced"
and know what to do when she finally finds the
man of her choice. My dear Christian, it is a lie and an
affront to God to say that experience is the best teacher, when
in fact it is God who is the best teacher, and though the
world's motto is live and learn, the Bible's advice is learn
and live. You do not need to be experienced, you only need
to be knowledgeable of what God has said and obedient to it.
You should not be looking for the man of your choice, but
should be waiting on the man of God's choice. And when he
comes, it will not be past experiences that will make your
marriage work, but past chastity, purity, and godliness. We
should hide our faces from the ways and experiences of this
wicked world and look upon only those things that God has
placed in the path He has prepared for us.

God knows exactly what you need and He even knows
the desires of your heart better than you do. God loves
surprises. He does not want you to be looking for your
husband, He wants to bring him to you, and probably at a
time you least expect it. If you disobey this advice, as so
many other women before you, and take it upon yourself
to look for a mate, you may find someone, but chances are
that someone you find will not be the right one.

As women, our nature desires the company and companionship
of a man. This is from God and therefore good.
But at the same time, we are wrong to think that death will be
the result if this need is not fulfilled. Needing another as a
companion is not like needing to take your next breath of air.
That is, you can survive without companionship, at least until
God has done His perfect work in you. Remember the Scripture,
"God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond
what you can bear." (I Corinthians 10:13)

I have found that there are two primary reasons why
someone desperately needs someone else. First of all, it is
because they do not know God as they should. Is God not
the God of all comfort? Is not Christ the exalted Lord who
fills all things everywhere? Then why do we complain about
how empty and alone we feel? Could it be that God extends
our time of singleness so that we might find our life in Him
and learn to be complete in Him? If we seek to be married
because we feel that a husband will fill our lives or will in some
way make us complete, we will be sorely disappointed in our
marriage. No man, no matter how Christ-like could ever take
the place of God in our lives, to think such a thing is pure
idolatry. If we are not filled by God now and complete in
Christ in the present, then not even a marriage made in heaven
will be able to change our emptiness.

The second reason for desperately needing someone in
our lives is plain selfishness. When we need someone in order
to feel loved, or when we need someone so that our feelings of
loneliness might dissipate, then we are wanting marriage for
all the wrong reasons. Marriage should not be looked upon
as an opportunity to have our needs met, but as an opportunity
to meet the needs of another. If we have not learned to
take our own needs to God, then we will probably overwhelm
our husbands with our own needs and be unaware of his. I
have known Christian women who spent their days consumed
with their own needs and constantly lamenting about why
God had not brought someone into their life. But why should
God entrust a godly man to a woman that is absorbed in
herself and her own needs, and does not use the freedom of
her singleness to serve God and prepare herself for His purposes?
Such a woman would have little to offer a godly husband!

My dear friend, being single, like being married should be
considered a very special and enjoyable time in the providence
of God. It should not be considered a mere circumstance or
a curse from which one should try desperately to flee. Being
single is a time to learn of God and of ourselves, a time to
discover who we are in Christ, and to grow in Christlikeness.
It is a time to be zealous for good works and involved in
ministry to others. Being single has a magic of its own that
should be enjoyed in its time because once passed it may not
return. There is nothing quite so sad as a woman now married
who regrets what she could have been and done with her
life while single. All was lost for the sake of hurrying to be
married without consideration for the plan or work of God.

Every season in life has a beauty and wonder of its
own. My prayer for all single Christian women is that they
might enjoy their time in spite of the lies of the world. That
they might be demanding and not settle for anything less
than the perfect will of God. That they might wait patiently
on God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift.
That they might be like Esther, using whatever time God
deems necessary to make them beautiful on the inside and
out.

Virtuous Women

"Who shall find a virtuous women? For such a one is more valuable than precious stones.. and she rises by night, and gives food to her household, and her candle goes not out all night."

There is such an honor in becoming a virtuous woman of God. I was born to be a Godly women. I was born to take comfort, joy, and glory in the full manifestations of womenhood. I am on a journey to find what it means to be a virtuous woman. To capture the feminity, strengh, the nobility, beauty, and everything that womanhood is all about. Today we are allowing ourselves to settle and to fall short of what God's plans for our lives are. We are allowing young girls to date guys at early ages and allowing heartbreak in. I admit I have gotten emotionally involved with guys that I should've never let myself to even be friends with. I have heart scars that I cannot take back and that I am allowing Jesus to heal. By allowing this to happen we are hindering girls from capturing the tools of what womanhood is all about. Relationships between the opposite sex should always be initated by the man. I have failed to abide by this and this is going against what God's plan is. All relationships between the opposite sexes in the bible have been initiated by the man. Women and girls have become so bold and shameless in the area of relationships. Men should initate the relationship ALWAYS. "A man shall leave his father and mother-not a woman to leave her father and mother." Everytime a woman pursues the man instead of the man seeking the woman is considered immoral.. everytime. This goes definitely goes against our culture. But our culture is against God and truth hating. Feminist think we should have the right to be able to pursue a man and be able to take the role as a man. But why should women have to do this why would we want to be reponsible for being the man in the relationship? We are queens sitting on the throne he has to come crawling to us. HE HAS TO SEEK US OUT AND TO FIND US. There is nobility in this. The enemies of scripture want to convince us that this is treating us of something of lesser quality but no this is a nobler quality. The man that God has in store for me will help promote my spiritual life not hinder it. They will not take away from it but help build it up. I want a man to be attracted to my biblical beauty not my sex appeal or my looks or my sensuality. I don't want a man to want me because of my sensuality. I dont want to be a temptress. Sensuality proceeds from a wicked heart.

Mark 7:21-23 says " For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean'." Sensuality is also a deed of the flesh.

Galatians 5:19-21 says" The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and bebauchery; idolary and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."

A woman can properly be called beautiful and elegant but a woman who is sensual has an evil heart. I don't want to be a sensual woman. I don't want to have an evil heart. Sensuality is just a public advertisement for the condition of the heart. We should run from it. Us as women need to run from sensuality and run from sensuality in men. We should be like Proverbs 31:10-"A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds.'' Men should be attracted to virtue. I want to have virtue. Men should look for virtue not personality or sensuality. I don't want my future husband to be attracted to my physical features I want him to be attracted to me because of my virtue and the Christ that is manifested in my life. I want him to be attracted to that. So I will continue to wait for him and will continue to find what it means to be a virtous woman. Paul Washer's Virtuous Woman inspired me to post this blog.

Awaken Me.

Tonight I went to coffee with my best friend Amber Taylor. I love her and she is such an encouragement in my life and is a gift sent by God. We had a great discussion about her internship she did at IHOP for three months. I have been struggling with God's direction in my life. I want to hear his voice. I want to live for him and I want to know his plan. Amber is encouraging me and praying for me. My heart is damaged. I have neglected my heart and I have neglected God. I am asking God to forgive me for neglecting his heart. I am also asking God to forgive me for neglecting my heart. I have neglected my spirtitual life. I have wasted a lot of time. I have been out of high school year two years. I have been going to college but I have felt an emptiness. I just recently applied for the nursing program at USD at the university center. I was not accepted. At first I was competely devasted. But God put a peace in my heart that I cannot explain. I know that it was his plan that I did not get in the nursing program this semester like I wanted. But I think theres other reasons for this also. It may not be my timing but it is God's timing. I need to trust him. I want the lord to restore my brokenness. I want him to make me feel alive again. I want to live my life out through my heart. I ask that the lord would put his hand upon my heart. I need his guidance. I want to feel him. I want him to take away the dullness and coldness and complacency. I want him to take away my wandering spirit. I want him to fascinate me and I want him to captivate me. I want him to own me. HE IS MINE AND I AM HIS. I want him to capture all of my affections. Im asking that he would put his hand upon my heart. I just want to feel him. I want to feel again. I want to live. I don't want to life in this emptiness and brokenness anymore. Awaken me by Misty Edwards is just speaking to me. I just want forgiveness. I want to be forgiven for my negligence and my busy life. I have WASTED so much time. I want him to forgive me for my preoccupied mind.





Misty Edwards Awaken Me

Misty Edwards Awaken Me

Forgive me for neglecting Your heart,
Forgive me for neglecting mine.
Forgive me for my busy life,
Forgive me for wasting time,

For I'm dark from working in the vineyard,
but my heart I have forgotten

Put Your hand upon my heart
Put Your hand upon my heart
Put Your hand upon my heart
I want to feel

Let me know that I'm alive
Let me know that I'm alive
Let me know that I'm alive
I want to feel (You)

Take away the dullness
Take away a proneness to boredom
Take away my wandering spirit
And take this wild soul

Fascinate me
Captivate me
Come and hold me like you do

Fascinate me
Captivate me
Capture this imagination
Capture my affections, too

Fascinate
Captivate
God, Come and capture my imagination

Fascinate
Captivate
God, Capture my affections, too

I want You to awaken me
Came awaken me
Awaken me
Awaken me
Awaken me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSINFmNDdVc

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