book report part 5: "Captivating"

this is my last post on "Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul" by John & Stasi Eldredge. if you haven't read the other 4 posts, make sure to look for them. this book was excellent! i would highly recommend women to read it.

God really does want you to know who you are. He wants you to be able to understand the story of your life, to know where you have come from, and to know where you are going. There is freedom there. Freedom to be and to offer and to love. So, may we take a moment and remind you who you truly are?

You are a woman. An image bearer of God. The Crown of Creation. You were chosen before time and space, and you are wholly and dearly loved. You are sought after, pursued, romanced, the passionate desire of your fiance, Jesus. You are dangerous in your beauty and your life-giving power. And you are needed.

As a woman who has been ransomed and redeemed, you can be strong and tender. You speak to the world of God's mercy, mystery, beauty, and his desire for intimate relationship. You are inviting; you can risk being vulnerable, offering the weight of your life as well as your need for more because you are safe in God's love. You labor with God to bring forth life-in creativity, in work, in others. Your aching, awakened heart leads you to the feet of Jesus, where you wait on him and wait for him. There eyes of his heart are even upon you. The King is captivated by your beauty.

the song posted below was mentioned in the book. the lyrics are beautiful images of what Christ is to us. please take the time to listen and may God touch your heart by it as He did mine.

book report part 4: "Captivating"

obviously i've learned a lot from this book or i wouldn't be writing so much about it. i just found it to be an excellent encouragement for women. so women, if you get a chance, pick up this book. i think it will show you a lot about yourself and show you things you may have never thought of before.

the next section i wanted to share was on romance. as a woman, romance is part of my dna. God knows that. He wants us to be His bride. here are some thoughts Stasi & John Eldredge had on being "romanced".

A woman becomes beautiful when she knows she's loved. We've seen this many times-you probably have too. Cut off from love, rejected, no one pursuing her, something in a woman wilts like a flower no one waters anymore. She withers into resignation, duty, and shame. The radiance of her countenance goes out, as if a light has been turned off. but this same woman, who everyone thought was rather plain and unengaging, becomes lovely and inviting when she is pursued. Her heart begins to come alive, come to the surface, and her countenance becomes radiant. We wonder, "Where has she been all these years? Why, she really is captivating."

We live for romance. We are wired for it; it's what makes our hearts come alive. God longs to bring this into your life himself. He wants you to move beyond the childlike, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." He wants to heal us through his love to become mature women who actually know him.

What is it that God wants from you?

He wants the same thing that you want. He wants to be loved. He wants to be known as only lovers can know each other. He wants intimacy with you. Yes, he wants your obedience, but only when it flows out of a heart filled with love for him. "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." (John 14:21). Following hard after Jesus is the heart's natural response when it has been captured and has fallen deeply in love with him.

mercy

"But God loves us deeply. He is full of mercy. So he gave us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God's grace has saved you.

God raised us up with Christ. He has seated us with him in his heavenly kingdom because we belong to Christ Jesus. He has done it to show the riches of his grace for all time to come. His grace can't be compared with anything else. He has shown it by being kind to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.

God's grace has saved you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesn't come from anything you do. It is God's gift." ~ Ephesians 2:4-8 NIRV

my parents shared a website with me yesterday for Back to the Bible. is it an international media ministry. Woodrow Kroll is the president and senior Bible teacher for the ministry. yesterday on his program he talked about mercy: "God's mercy means withholding penalty." (click on the title for the video and transcripts from this program).

here are some poignant thoughts i walked away with.

God's character is such that His mercy means there isn't anything you and I have done so heinous, so bad, that God, when He chooses to, can exercise mercy on our behalf.

When we receive the mercy of God in our lives, we're not making excuses for the way we've lived our life. We're saying, "There is no excuse for the way I've lived my life. There's no excuse for the way I've acted in front of God and in front of other people." And what we're doing is, we're saying to God, without making excuses, setting aside every opportunity I have to justify myself. "I am admitting I need Your mercy."

Fourth century church father, John Chrysostom said, "Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan." That is so true. If I demand justice, I make Satan happy, but I may disappoint God. If I show mercy, I surely will disappoint Satan, but I will be more God-like in the process of doing that.

Being merciful then means not being judgmental and not demanding justice. It means not allowing the penalty for sin against us to become a penalty. We just take that sin and we say we'll wipe it away by showing mercy to this person.

To show mercy always demands more than intellectual assent that I need to show mercy. It demands action. It demands that I find ways and find people in my own life that I can go out of my way to show them mercy as opposed to asking for justice.

those thoughts are so convicting to me. we have such a wonderful example in Christ. yet why it is so hard for us to grant others mercy? one line from Mr. Kroll really stood out to me: mercy demands action. it is something we show…something we demonstrate. we choose to wipe the slate clean. we don’t look at the wrongs, the sin…we don’t penalize them. we look at them through God’s eyes. what a great reminder. oh, to be more like Christ.

book report part 3: "Captivating"

there is a section in this book on healing wounds. all of us have wounds. some are deeper than others. some are more fresh than others. the good news is that God can heal any wound...if we'll only let Him.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61:1-3

This is the passage that Jesus pointed to when he began his ministry here on earth. Of all the Scriptures he could have chosen, this is the one he picked on the day he first publicly announced his mission. It must be important to him. It must be central. What does it mean? It's supposed to be really good news, that's clear. It has something to do with healing hearts, setting someone free. Let me try and state it in words more familiar to us.

God has sent me on a mission. I have some great news for you. God has sent me to restore and release something. And that something is you. I am here to give you back your heart and set you free. I am furious at the Enemy who did this to you, and I will fight against him. Let me comfort you. For, dear one, I will bestow beauty upon you where you have known only devastation. Joy, in the places of your deep sorrow. And I will robe your heart in thankful praise in exchange for your resignation and despair.

You are the glorious Image Bearer of the Lord Jesus Christ-the crown of his creation. You have been assaulted. You have fallen to your own resources. Your Enemy has seized upon your wounds and your sins to pin your heart down. Now the Son of God has come to ransom you, and to heal your broken, wounded, bleeding heart, and to set you free from bondage. He came for the brokenhearted captives. That's me. That's you. He came to restore the glorious creation that you are. And then set you free...to be yourself.

walking with God today

this morning i went for my walk as i usually do. i was listening to my ipod and thinking on the words of the songs. as i walked and listened, i talked to God. thanking Him, praising Him, asking Him...as i made my turn to walk home there was a rather upbeat song on...it had a great message. i was listening to this song and praying and found it hard to focus because part of me was listening to the words of the song. the song finally changed and i heard the first line of the next song. it hit me. "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD". wow. here i was thinking i was doing great by listening to my praise songs and talking to God at the same time but really what God wanted me to do was slow down, be quiet and listen to Him. how can i possibly hear God's voice when i've got my head phones on? i know He can speak through music and music is a form of worship but there is a time when we just need to be still...

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 NIV

Be quiet and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 NLV

Our God says, "Calm down, and learn that I am God!" Psalm 46:10 CEV

Cease striving and know that I am God Psalm 46:10 NASB

book report part 2: "Captivating"

we all our wounded. we all deal with shame. in a section from "Captivating" by John & Stasi Eldredge, they discuss "wounded femininity".

As a result of the wounds we receive growing up, we come to believe that some part of us, maybe every part of us is marred. Shame enters in and makes its crippling home deep within our hearts. Shame is what makes us look away, so we avoid contact with strangers and friends. Shame is that feeling that haunts us, the sense that if someone really knew us, they would shake their heads in disgust and run away...

Others seem to master their lives, but shame grips our hearts and pins them down, ever ready to point out our failures and judge our worth. We are lacking. We know we are not all that we long to be, all that God longs for us to be, but instead of coming up for grace-filled air and asking God what he thinks of us, shame keeps us pinned down and gasping, believing that we deserve to suffocate...

Shame causes us to hide. We are afraid of being truly seen, and so we hide our truest selves and offer only what we believe is wanted...we are silent and do not say what we see or know when it is different from what others are saying, because we think we must be wrong...

Shame makes us feel very uncomfortable with our beauty. Women are beautiful, every single one of us. It is one of the glorious ways that we bear the image of God...

You really won't understand your life as a woman until you understand this:

You are passionately loved by the God of the universe.
You are passionately hated by his Enemy.

...There is a One greater than your Enemy. One who has sought you out from the beginning of time. He has come to hear your broken heart and restore your feminine soul.

when i read that, i think of the song lyric, "Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world". we have such tremendous power and hope through God.

i stumbled upon this song when i was looking for something else on youtube. i think the Lord showed it to me for a reason. it's called "Praise His Name". when we struggle with our wounds and shame we should look to the One who can help us through...we can "praise the hurt away".

book report part 1: "Captivating"

i am currently reading "Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul" by John & Stasi Eldredge. there is so much to learn from this book that i decided to start writing about it even though i'm not finished.

in the beginning of the book it describes the significance of woman when she was created. here are some thoughts that jumped out at me.

It is nearing the end of the sixth day, the end of the Creator's great labor, as Adam steps forth, the image of God, the triumph of his work. He alone is pronounced the son of God. Nothing in creation even comes close. Truly, the masterpiece seems complete. And yet, the Master says that something is not good, not right. Something is missing...and that something was Eve. (Genesis 2:21-23)

She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God. Woman. In one last flourish creation comes to a finish not with Adam, but with Eve. She is the Master's finishing touch. Eve is ...breathtaking.

Given the way creation unfolds, how it builds to ever higher and higher works or art, can there be any doubt that Eve is the crown of creation? Not an afterthought. She is God's final touch, his piece de resistance. She fills a place in the world nothing and no one else can fill. Step to a window, ladies, if you can. Better still, find some place with a view. Look out across the earth and say to yourself, "The whole, vast world in incomplete without me. Creation reached its zenith in me."

to me that is astonishing! i have always struggled with insecurities and self-esteem. i think most women do. it's not uncommon for women to question their worth. the difficult part is finding worth in what matters...finding worth in God. most of the women i know, me included, have searched for significance and meaning in everything we could think of. we try to get validation from friends, family, men, etc. we try to fill up our days, our hours and minutes with activities so we don't have the down time to think...to see that we really are lonely. after all the striving to be something we're not, our core tells us there is still something missing. that is something we can never escape no matter how many activities we are involved with or how many relationships we are in or how we think we've found the answer in a man/woman. God created us to find our significance in Him and absolutely nothing will fill that void except for HIM.

you know, i think that when God created Eve He had her future insecurities in mind. the Creator of the universe created woman so man and the rest of creation would be complete...God said it was good! what greater validation is there in life?