MEASURED BY FAITH

            After watching Antique Road Show, I now believe in the old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”  In the same show I saw a watch from the 1800’s valued at $1,000 and a gun from the 1800’s in similar condition was valued at $15,000.  To the untrained eye, there wasn’t that much difference in the items age or make.  Guns are not necessarily more popular than watches.   It took a true expert to see the difference.

            In our world today, women suffer from the same type of categorizing I placed on the two antiques.  If two women are about the same age, same height, same hair color etc., most people group them together and make assumptions about them.  Here are some names that woman get grouped in; Blondes, Brunettes, Red heads, Home Makers, Working Mom, Single with Kids, Wives.

             We understand that we as women are part of one or more of these groups. It would be preferable not to be so easily categorized though. For woman to be seen as an individual, with special value, it takes an expert.

            The only expert on this subject that I know of is God.   He knows each woman by name not number.   God doesn’t look down on all Mankind and group us into categories.   His intersession in our lives is unique and individualized.

            Yet, when God looks at the woman of today, what value does He place on us?   Are we worth more to him if we are; a working woman, a mother of three or more, a “perfect wife”, a great cook or a true beauty? Are we held under the Old Testament Rules?   Indeed Not.  God loves us for our distinctiveness.

            Once we have become believers in Jesus Christ, we are placed into the state of,

“Saved by Grace.”   Christ died for us so that we would not have to be judged by God.  Once we take the step of Salvation we are all equal in His eyes. So is there anything that makes us more valuable to the true expert, God?

            God values Faith in Him above other things. He places no value on those items which the world holds in esteem. According to 1 Peter 1:7 our faith in Jesus Christ is one way that God measures value.  ( ..your faith- of greater worth than gold which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed.)   Thus, if God places high value on faith, it only makes sense that we should seek to be faithful. 

            According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word Faith means; 1. Trust  2. Belief in God  3. Loyalty.  As defined, is that so difficult?  Not really, yet many woman seem to believe that having faith in God could stand as a blockade to their life’s desires.

            Proverbs 3:5 commissions us to (Trust “have faith” in God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.)  That scripture reveals faith as an opening for the wonderful things in life, not as a blockade.

            Today as you think about your individuality, remember that God sees you as a sole person with a soul.  He wants you to prosper.  He wants to assign your life worth and value.  Allow him to do this with a simple step:

Have Faith           

GAMBLED AWAY

by Teresa Ives Lilly

When Bonnie Wurthington's Step brother gambles her away to "Lord Blackstorm" and she is sent to his estate to work the fields, Bonnie is confussed and worried. But she believes that this is part of God's plan for her life so she agrees to go.

When Lord Rutherford discovers that the Bonnie he won in a late night card game is a lovely and Godly woman and not the "Mule" he thought he had won, he realizes that to salvage her reputation he must marry her, but he knows that he isn't the man of God that Bonnie needs.

Will love help them both to find out what God's plan for their lives are?

PURCHASE AT AMAZON