Christian Mothers and The Bible

One of my favorite websites is gotquestions.org. You can go there and ask just about any question pertaining to the Bible and you will most often get an accurate and thorough response with many references to verses in the Bible. Here is what it says regarding Christian mothers. I found this to be extremely helpful! - Shaina

Question: "What does the Bible say about Christian mothers?"

Answer: Being a mother is a very important role that the Lord chooses to give to many women. A Christian mother is told to love her children (Titus 2:4-5), in part so that she does not bring reproach on the Lord and on the Savior whose name she bears.

Children are a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127:3-5). In Titus 2:4, the Greek word phileoteknos appears in reference to mothers loving their children. This word represents a special kind of “mother love.” The idea that flows out of this word is that of caring for our children, nurturing them, affectionately embracing them, meeting their needs, and tenderly befriending each one as a unique gift from the hand of God.

Several things are commanded of Christian mothers in God’s Word:

Availability – morning, noon, and night (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

Involvement – interacting, discussing, thinking, and processing life together (Ephesians 6:4)

Teaching – the Scriptures and a biblical worldview (Psalm 78:5-6;Deuteronomy 4:10; Ephesians 6:4)

Training – helping a child to develop skills and discover his/her strengths (Proverbs 22:6) and spiritual gifts (Romans 12:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12)

Discipline – teaching the fear of the Lord, drawing the line consistently, lovingly, firmly (Ephesians 6:4; Hebrews 12:5-11; Proverbs 13:24; 19:18;22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15-17)

Nurture – providing an environment of constant verbal support, freedom to fail, acceptance, affection, unconditional love (Titus 2:4; 2 Timothy 1:7;Ephesians 4:29-32; 5:1-2; Galatians 5:22; 1 Peter 3:8-9)

Modeling with Integrity – living what you say, being a model from which a child can learn by “catching” the essence of godly living (Deuteronomy 4:9, 15, 23; Proverbs 10:9; 11:3; Psalm 37:18, 37).

The Bible never states that every woman should be a mother. However, it does say that those whom the Lord blesses to be mothers should take the responsibility seriously. Mothers have a unique and crucial role in the lives of their children. Motherhood is not a chore or unpleasant task. Just as a mother bears a child during pregnancy, and just as a mother feeds and cares for a child during infancy, so mothers also play an ongoing role in the lives of their children, whether they are adolescents, teenagers, young adults, or even adults with children of their own. While the role of motherhood must change and develop, the love, care, nurture, and encouragement a mother gives should never cease.

Imitate the Christ-like

Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723. - Jonathan Edwards. Number54 on his list of 70 resolutions.

On Sunday, our Pastor quoted this phrase and it particularly stood out to me. We know that as followers of Christ we are to imitate Christ. One way we can do this is to acknowledge those qualities that are exemplified in other believers and imitate those things that are worthy of praise. In other words - see the Christ-like qualities in others and endeavor to imitate them as an effort to imitate Christ. So often I admire the good Christ-like qualities in others but I rarely put those things into practice in my own life. Good, godly qualities, are not just to be admired, they are to be practiced. This is something I need to keep in mind daily!

This is especially important now that I have a daughter who will soon be imitating me. As a parent it is my duty to imitate Christ to the best of my ability so that my daughter will grow to imitate Him as well.

.

Adam's Rib?

Many popular English translations say that God used a rib to make Eve. However, there is no Hebrew word for the rib itself and the word that is used in the Bible is, “Tsela`” It is used about 40 times in the Old Testament and they are all translated as “side, corner, chamber, or flank” except for this one instance in the creation of the woman. It is unknown where the rib idea originated, but nearly every commentary and Hebrew lexicon I have read on the matter has affirmed it. It is really unknown what part of Adam’s side was used, it is just known that God used Adam’s bone and flesh in his side to create woman. The significance of this is simply that God created woman from man and she was to be always at his side.

The use of the word rib is probably because Adam says in verse 33, “this is bone of my bone” and the bones within the side of the torso are the ribs, however there is nothing in its original context that indicates the location of the bone and flesh that was used to create woman from man.

I asked GotQuestions.org about the issue (because this is exactly the type of question they would have an answer to) but to my surprise, they really do not know the origin of the "rib" translation. Here is my question and their response:

Question 105235: The word Tsela in Hebrew is translated to `rib` in Genesis 2, but elsewhere in the Bible it is translated as `side, corner, flank, chambers` Why is it translated as `rib` in this particular section? How do we know that it was specifically Adam`s rib and not just his `side`?

Answered By: Harvey

Answer:

"The point you raise is a good one, and serves to demonstrate that we often hold on to sometimes unwarranted understandings of the text without definitive or even proper understanding of the Hebrew words, the context, or the meaning intended.
There are many biblical commentators who take the approach that "tsela" does, in fact, refer to Adam's side and not his rib."

I kept searching for an answer and all I could really find was this.


The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says this:

(tsela‘, tsal‘ah; Aramaic ‘ala‘): The Hebrew words designate the "side," "flank," thence the "ribs." They are found thus translated only in connection with the creation of Eve: "He (Yahweh) took one of his (Adam’s) ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: and the rib, which Yahweh God had taken from the man, made he (margin "builded he into") a woman" (Ge 2:21,22). The Aramaic word is only found in Da 7:5.

So it would appear that the word rib was used as a example of a part of Adam's side, however there is no definitive answer as to how the use of the word "rib" came about. Nevertheless, The Bible said that woman were created from part of man's side and really that is all that matters. I would like to eventually find out (if anyone knows!) where the origin of rib came from, it's very interesting!

Have any of you researched this?

.

It is Not Good for Man to be Alone

Normally this is something I would post over at Learning & Discerning, however this topic pertains to one that I will be writing about tomorrow.

God's Natural Order

I have been studying quite a bit about God's natural order lately, particularly that of the social order. Everything that is within God's design is a system and it is because of this that everything is about relationships. The very nature of God is a relationship! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For a system to exist there must be some form of relationship. Whether it be the relationships within the atomic structure, the relationships between all of the functions of the brain, the relationships that exist within the water cycle, photosynthesis, metamorphosis, and so on. God created everything in a way that requires a natural order. Most often when we think of natural order we think of the physical realm (science). However, there is order in both a spiritual and social realm as well. Family and community - this is what we all naturally a part of and it is something we all long for and God has specific design for each of these, this is the social realm. Heaven and Hell are part of the spiritual realm of God's order. Everything works together, because everything has been designed in this way, with perfect design, balance, and precise order.

When God created the earth, each day he made this statement about all that he had spoken into existence: It is good. This means that it was all within his natural order, there was no disorder, there was no evil present. God created man on the 6th day, and it was then that he made his first ethical statement, "It is not good for man to be alone." God could have created Adam and Eve at the same time, but he did not. This was done purposefully (as with everything God does). Up until this moment there had been complete order in the physical realm, now it was time to begin a social realm and to do this, God specifically designed the family to be in this order: Husband first, Wife second, Children third, not because it was just "a good idea" but because it was essential to his nature.

When God created Adam, this was the first time that aloneness had ever existed, because God himself and his triune nature was not alone. It it hard for us to even comprehend this, because an infinite God cannot be fully described with a finite illustration. Nevertheless, with our knowledge of the trinity, we can easily see that since man was created in God's image (that is the father, son, and holy spirit), there had to be more than just Adam. In order for Adam to truly be made in the image of God, an equal part had to be made, and then a third part that was subordinate to the husband and wife, the children.

The Family - The husband, wife, and children are an excellent representation of the triune nature of God, not necessarily an illustration. The family is simply part of God's natural social order. This shows us why this social institution of family is important and why it is natural, it is essential to God's nature. The husband is in authority over the wife, however he loves his wife (read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 for an accurate definition of what love is), at the same time the woman submits and respects her husband and she lives to please him and care for their children, yet she is one with her husband (in the same way that Jesus is in submission to God the Father, yet they are one in the same), and thirdly we have yet another that is subordinate to both Jesus and the Father, the Holy Spirit, which is where the children would fit into this order.

Our society does not understand this, and as a result the very institutions of marriage and family are under attack. Men do not live up to the high standard that God has set for them, women have become prideful, envious, and selfish in their desires to be like men and thus sacrificing the lives of their children, the respect of their husbands, and their own integrity in the process. Men are turning to men and women and turning to women in search for understanding, love, and respect that they do not get from the opposite sex. God's natural order is being ignored for the sake of self satisfaction, and marriages and families are suffering as a result.

Stay tuned, there will be more on this later :)

.

The Truth Project

Psalm 16:8

"I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psalm 16:8)

No matter what the circumstances are in my life, no matter how much terror and fear I may have of happenings in the world and in my day to day life, I can be certain of one thing: I have set the Lord always before me. No human can take away the grace that God has shown me. He has taken a rotten sinner like me and saved me from an unimaginable terror. I have been saved! It is when I remember this that all of my worldly fears begin to fade away and the only fear that I have is of God.

How amazing is it that we can have the God of the universe at standing at our right hand? He is always there, and he is always available to us, these tiny little seemingly unimportant beings when compared to all the complexities of the Universe, He has taken each of us into account and we will all be held accountable one day for how we glorified and exemplified Him. He is so powerful and majestic, so loving and so just. I can't imagine a greater plan than the plan God has created for all of humanity.

I love to take time and just think with an eternal perspective. God has always been, he is outside of time. The idea is impossible for us to understand because we (and everything we know here in the universe) has had a beginning and will ultimately have an end.

I am a woman. I'm a wife, mother, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, step-sister, sister-in-law, niece, granddaughter, and even a great-granddaughter. The most important title I could ever hope to live up to is child of God. I pray that I uphold this title throughout my entire life, all the way up until the end. Because then, there is no end! Because I have been saved through faith by God's grace, my death will be the beginning of an eternal life. Just the thought of what will happen the moment I take my last breath here on earth is... unfathomable.

Can anything compare to this great love that God has shown? Absolutely not. That is why I will never be moved, no matter what the cost.

.

My History with Christ

• At what age did you recognize you were in need of a Savior?

I attended church my entire life and I believe I first understood that I was in fact a sinner and I needed a savior when I was around 8 years old. However, I didn't fully devote my life to him until a long time after that. I honestly don't know when I officially became saved but I think it may have been at around age 18. That is when I fully understood my need for Jesus and my heart and mind began to be transformed. I wanted nothing else than to honor the Lord with my life.

• Who shared the Gospel with you (you don't have to share names unless you just want to)?

Initially, my parents and Sunday school teachers while growing up. I always knew I was a sinner (well after around age 8) and my life was spent trying to please God, but I think it was for the wrong reasons until I was in my late teens. After that I don't think I really had it explained to me in such a pure form as The Way of the Master uses. Their ministry has heavily influenced my life by their preaching of the Gospel.

• What was your first reaction when heard the Gospel for the first time?

I cannot clearly remember my reaction to hearing the Gospel for the first time, so I will explain my reaction to hearing it now. I am absolutely mind-blown at the idea that the God of the universe would love his creation so much that he would send his son to take our punishment (that we brought upon ourselves!). How incredible is it that we have this wonderful, beautiful and merciful God that is willing to forgive us of our sins if we just repent and trust in Him?! We deserve nothing and yet he died for us. It is absolutely phenomenal.

• How long did it take you to understand Jesus is the only Savior, repent and trust Him with your life?

Years. Only recently have I understood the importance of repentance and what true repentance is.

• How often do you share the Gospel with others?

Honestly, I hardly ever leave my own house and when I do it is to go to the grocery store or church. I guess I should start finding ways to talk to people at the grocery store, eh? :) This is mainly why I have a blog. So that I can proclaim to truth to anyone who reads this.

• What plans do you have to become more committed to sharing salvation in Christ with others?

Right now I am hoping that God provides me with the courage to preach the gospel to all of my unsaved family members. Unfortunately, many of them are big on debating, which I am not. I feel hugely burdened with the fact that I may not be able to stay on the right track and on topic if trying to preach the gospel to them.

• What scares you the most about sharing the Gospel and what Scriptures have helped you overcome those fears?

Basically my biggest fears are two things. 1) Not being able to preach the Gospel as a result of their 100 off topic questions or non-willingness to admit they have sinned against God. 2) The aftermath. I believe these two fears are the same fears that many people struggle with.

No matter what a person says, no matter how many random questions they bring up, we must stay focused on the heart of the matter: that we are all sinners and need a Savior. But when the person is not a stranger, such as a family member - it becomes more difficult to just ignore their questions and continue on with the Law to show they they've sinned. I'm afraid I won't get to the sharing of the Gospel part. And then if I do share the gospel, what will they think of me afterwards? Will they give me the silent treatment?

I recently shared the Gospel with my Grandmother and she hasn't spoken to me since (and that was about 2 months ago). I know that even if she never speaks to me again it was well worth it, but I'm afraid of doing that with *everyone* I know that is not saved. I fear that no one will ever want to even be near me again!

To overcome these fears I need to understand that God is in control and there is nothing that happens that is not according to His plan. I seriously have nothing to worry about. No man can harm me because I have the Holy Spirit within me. I must keep this in mind when sharing the Gospel. It is not up to me to change a person's heart - that is entirely God. All I can do is proclaim that His word IS truth and we have all sinned and we all fall short of God's glory. We need Jesus Christ if we want any hope for life after death.

Christmas is FOR Jesus

This is exactly why we must keep Jesus Christ at the center of all of our Christmas celebrations that are coming up. He IS the reason for the season (forgive my rhyming cheesiness). Christmas is celebrated to honor the birth of the one person that was able to forgive an entire world's worth of souls (past, present, and future)! All he asks is that we TRUST him and believe in Him. Only through this will true repentance occur, and we will turn from our sins and live as a light in this world of darkness.

.

Ray Comfort

I feel like promoting a blog today!

Ray Comfort's Blog -
http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/

Ray is one of my favorite people. He is an author of many wonderful books and host of The Way Of the Master. I have read his blog for a while and it started with the title of, "Comfort Food" However, the blog attracted so many angry atheists he has now re-named is blog to, "Atheist Central" haha. I still read his blog pretty often, he posts some pretty interesting stuff. Check it out!


-

Current Favorite Song

You Are Everything - by Matthew West


I'm the one with two left feet
Standing on a lonely street
I can't even walk a straight line
And every time you look at me
I'm spinning like an autumn leaf
Bound to hit bottom sometime

Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won't let me fall
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can't believe is happening
You're standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can't help but breathe you in

> Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
I'm the one with big mistakes
Big regrets and bigger breaks
Than I ever care to confess
Oh but, You're the one who looks at me
And sees what I was meant to be
More than just a beautiful mess

Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won't let me fall
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can't believe is happening
You're standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can't help but breathe you in
[these lyrics are found on http://www.songlyrics.com]
Breathe again

Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
You're everything good in my life
Everything honest and true
And all of those stars hanging up in the sky
Could never shine brighter than You
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can't believe is happening
You're standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can't help but breathe you in
Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
You are
You are
Jesus, You are

You are everything

-

Truth-Seeking

(This post in a way makes me seem angry and bitter but there really are no other words to describe ignorance and as prideful as it seems to write about ignorance in the world today, I fully believe it IS possible to be ignorant of truth and I use the word in a different way that our society uses it.)

Atheists, Barack Obama, Pro-Choicers, Vaccines, the GREEN movement, the Emergent Church, Anti-Homeschoolers, Anti-Homemakers, Feminists.... these are people and things that have really been bothering me lately. I shouldn't let it bother me but I can't seem to help it. I have my beliefs and I have reasons for those beliefs, but people are not tolerant. Christians are so discriminated against. People say that there is no right or wrong, no absolutes, no truth, and no way really know anything. Yet at the same time they are very animate about what they believe to be right. It's a strange concept coming from a society that has an abundance of knowledge available to them. They have the opportunity to learn anything they want but most choose to live in denial (of many things, not just Christianity) because a) they don't care one way or the other, b) they don't want to cause trouble so they go with the flow, or c) they are so full of pride they are not open to even thinking they could be wrong. I believe we ALL need to at least acknowledge that there is a right and a wrong.

People these days are more judgmental and ignorant (lacking knowledge of the truth) than ever before. Everyone is politically correct, misinformed, and very closed-minded. No one cares to do any truth seeking anymore, they just go with the flow and criticize anyone who seeks truth. So many people don't even know why they believe things, and if they do know why they haven't taken the time to find out if what they believe is true or not. I'm a truth-seeker. I don't want to go with the flow, I don't want to be ignorant, I don't want to teach my children things that are not true.

One thing I don't understand is why people can't see how a society without God just doesn't work. The more this country loses its morals, the worse everything gets. Not just for Christians, but for everyone.

I see and hear so many things that are just horrible and biblically incorrect and I start thinking that I should stop having children. I look at my daughter now and I can't even imagine the horrors she is going to have to deal with growing up in a world like this. It just keeps getting worse as time goes on.

But then I remember that this is how it is supposed to be. These are the last days.

2 Timothy 3: 1-8
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Whenever my fear of the world starts to really get to me, my husband reminds me that we are here for a purpose and God has called us to have and to raise godly children that will grow up to defend what is right. I want to have more children, many in fact, but it does scare me that they will be living in a society that progressively gets worse and worse each year. This is where faith and trust come in. God is in control of everything that happens, and the things that are occuring today are exactly as He said they would be, and we just need to trust and know that truth is real, there is right and wrong, there are absolutes, and Jesus Christ is way, the truth, and the life.

Constructive Criticism

Recently I have been reminded that many of us Christians have the tendency to sit on our high horses and look down on any who have ideas that differ from our own. I don't mean differences in religion, but differences in doctrine - differences in our Biblical beliefs. There is so much tension between Christians on these issues. I do have many firm beliefs on doctrine and I will be willing to explain my beliefs to anyone who may ask. However, I don't believe it is right for a person to dismiss any criticism whatsoever, because we are not all perfect, we are all sinners and we all fall short of God's glory, and we just may be the ones in the wrong. It is very hard, especially for me, to ignore my pride and actually think that, "Yes, I could be wrong on this issue." But we MUST be willing to take constructive criticism from people.

I would like to ask that anyone who reads my blog and sees that there is something that you believe may be unBiblical or if you believe I am sinning, please bring that up to me in a constructive and loving manner, the way the Bible instructs us to do (Galatians 6:1-2). This is a very scary thing for me to do because I know I have definitely been wrong many times but never would admit it.

Of course if it is something that is not a sin or something that just irks you, please refrain from trying to start a debate. Some things can actually be a sin for you where they are not sins for me (read Romans 14) and likewise. I actually am glad when a person points out things that I am doing wrong because then I can learn from it and change when it is appropriate for me to do so. Of course it is hard to hear that kind of stuff and it is very difficult not to get angry but the Bible says (Proverbs 14:29) we need to be slow to anger and we need to be understanding.

Seeing as this is MY blog, it is very much like a personal journal. I want to keep it that way and if I need to vent or if I believe a particular ministry is not Biblical, I am going to write about it because... I do have opinions and beliefs. I know not everyone will always agree with me but I try my best to stay Biblical and to be honest and hopefully others will agree with me or at least be understanding ;oD


-Shaina