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Today is Tuesday March 23, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Judges, chapters 3-5. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: https://www.readytofollow.com/bible-march-23

Title: Bible Study: Women & Power
You know, one can take a look around the world and even in the Christian world and realize that men and women are not created equal. We can blame it all on Eve, since she was the one who was tempted first by the devil and took the first bite of the forbidden fruit, but we can not blame it all on her, after all, Adam was the leader and the one who was supposed to keep her in check. Right? The truth is that whether man or woman, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, yes, the man should be the leader, regardless of what role he plays, but we can never underestimate the power of a woman. While the Bible is centered around men of God, once in a while we hear about a woman who took a stand for God and was used in a great way. God does not just use and bless men for their faithfulness, he also uses women and we should be honored to be a woman of God, whether that role is to be a wife, mother, teacher, or prophetess.

It is important for men and women to stay in the will of God, He will use anyone who wants to live their lives for Him to show His truths and prove that He truly is God and in control of all things. As Israel was without a leader, the people choose to do what they thought was best for their lives, thus getting into trouble by doing do. “And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.” - Judges 3:5-8. God turns His back on sin and He will not hesitate to let a person suffer until he realizes that the only way out of the suffering is through God's mercy and grace. We can all praise God for His mercy and grace for it is the only way to salvation. As Christians, it is important that we keep our eyes on Jesus, the second we take our eyes off Him it is easier to fall into the temptation of the forbidden fruit.

Deborah was a prophetess, she was also chose by God to be a judge or Israel, now, if we think that women do not have rights today, they really had no rights then, so you can imagine what she was up against, but she did as God commanded, knowing that He was with her and would be able to lead the people through Him. “And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.” - Judges 4:4-9. Deborah was successful because she acknowledged God as the one who would lead her and gave Him the honor for it. While there are some things that women should not do, at times, it is necessary and in the will of God to do so. As long as we are in the will of God, He will use us all in a mighty way.

Now, with that said, and as I said earlier, we can never underestimate the power of a woman, we may be the weaker vessel, but we are pretty good at getting what we want, whether it is for the good or bad. There are countless men of God in the Bible alone that were influenced by women, even Adam was influenced by Eve and persuaded to eat the forbidden fruit from her hands. “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.” - Proverbs 14:1. Women have a big task, we can make or break a person, a husband, a child, or a friend, becomes great or falls by the influence of a woman. I was engaged to a man and as long as I lifted him up and showed him love he prospered, but when I stopped he began to fall and while I really had no influence on his not being faithful to me, I did have an influence on what I allowed him to do. As I think about the things we did and what I allowed him to bring into our relationship I realize that had I stood my ground we may still be together or I would have saved myself from a lot of pain. Praise God that no matter what we have gotten ourselves into that He still forgives us and blesses all who come to Him, man or woman.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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