Today we will finish our discussion of women champions.  I encourage you to read the past two blog posts before you continue with this final installment.

Esther is our final champion example and my favorite, maybe because she had so many odds against her as an orphan or maybe because she was such a powerful queen.  I do not know, but I love Esther and everything she represents.  Whether we see her as a symbol of the Body of Christ or of ourselves personally, does not matter.  Either way, she represents a champion of righteousness and truly a model Mother of Nations.

Esther’s story begins around 438 B.C.  The King and his Queen Vashti had been partying for six months.  The party lasted so long in order that everyone in the kingdom could attend.  The culminating banquet was seven days long, ending with Queen Vashti making an entrance.  For some reason, when she was summoned by the King, she refused to come.  Some scholars say she was...

If you did not read last week’s blog, I encourage you to do so before digging into today’s entry.  We talked about several examples of champions from the Scriptures and that background will serve as foundational information for the following discussion.

Champions have many common characteristics.  They know how to love their enemies and overcome hurt.  Seeing the world through God’s love, champions make excellent decisions, perceive things positively, and make good choices.  Champions sometimes find themselves having to make difficult decisions.  I am sure Joseph thought about the possible consequences of his “no” to Potiphar’s wife, but he also realized a man without virtue is no man after all. 

Every one of us as Mothers of Nations is, or has been, in a place of making tough calls.  Sometimes our choices can cause pain to someone else, but the decision must be based on the honorable thing before God. ...

Everyone loves a champion.  We have champions in history, sports, television, civil rights, and more.  Champions are defined as people who have won a race, been victorious through an obstacle, conquered in battle, or overcome a hurdle.  Champions are looked up to, emulated, and talked about, some for centuries, others for just a moment in time.  No matter how large the audience or big the splash, champions are loved and esteemed.

When my husband Bill’s father went home to be with the Lord he was 84 years old and to all of his family members, he was a bona fide champion.  Bill’s father spent a lifetime helping people.  He served as a county sheriff, and later as a county commissioner for years. 

At his funeral every age group attended, from young children to senior citizens, each with a story as to how this man had touched their lives.  He had shoveled walks for the elderly never seeking a dollar, plowed driveways for people who...

Jesus knows where we are. 

Jesus knows our hearts. 

As we finish our study of this passage in John chapter four about the woman at the well, we see that this Samaritan woman had tried to fulfill her needs and emptiness through encounters with many men. Five, to be exact, had taken their turn, trying to fulfill her desires. However, this time, she met the only One who truly meets our needs and satisfies our souls. Jesus’ request for a drink of water drew Him to her, and her need for truth and life drew her to Him.

Whenever we encounter Jesus, no matter the place or the situation, Jesus is able to unveil our coverings, take off our "masks," and find the true reasons of our needs within us. We understand from these Scriptures that He knew that inside the Samaritan woman was a hurting heart that craved truth and healing. SHE was the one who needed a “drink,” and immediately Jesus steered His questions in that direction. These questions led her to a place...

Last week we discovered or rediscovered that Jesus knows exactly where we are. That means that He is fully aware of all that is going on in our lives. He is not surprised nor confounded by the challenges and problems that we feel loom so large before us.  It is truly a comfort to know we are not alone - ever - because Jesus knows exactly where we are and what we are facing. Put another way, He is with us. Always.

But we also see another truth in this passage of John chapter four.

Jesus knows our hearts. 

This woman was not going to fool Him with her answers to His questions. He instantly knew what was going on inside of her - the turmoil, the shame, the restlessness. The Bible tells us that Jesus discerned the intents of her heart.

We may try to "wear masks" in life or attempt to present a certain image to others to be accepted. That image may be one of being rich, intelligent, powerful, or at least, having our life all together! However, images that are designed to trick...

Before we continue our discussion of the woman at the well, you may want to go back to last week’s blog entry and reread the passage from John chapter four. With those Scriptures now fresh on our hearts, let’s continue our discussion of this interesting, life-changing encounter.

The first very important thing we can glean from this passage is the truth that Jesus knows where we are and exactly what is going on in our lives. 

We might think that God does not care about the details of our daily existence, but this story says that Jesus knew exactly where to find this woman. He knew when she would show up at the well. Most of the women in town went to the well after the sun was starting to go down because it was cooler. They would gather at the well and visit, discuss issues, probably gossip, and fill each other in with news of the day. The well was a gathering place for the women, and certainly a place of refreshing.

But here in this specific incident, this Samaritan...

Have you hungered for answers to your life and didn't know where to turn?

Have you ever been at the end of your rope wondering if anyone cares?

Have you felt trapped, ashamed, confused, or burdened and just didn't know how to be set free?

In so many ways the story of the woman at the well gives us insight into just these kinds of real life questions that all of us have had at one time or another.  For the next four weeks, let’s examine the Scriptures and talk about this woman found in John chapter four who is seeking answers for her life. She is going through her daily routine, yet within her is an empty place that nothing in her world has been able to fill.

We read in this passage that Jesus has stopped by this woman’s city to rest and recover from a long journey. Tired and dehydrated, He calls on her to bring him a drink from the well. This vicinity was no ordinary location, as men like Isaac had lived there many years before. In this very area Isaac had prospered...

Today I conclude the four weeks of blog entries from the Charisma magazine article “Overcoming the Obstacles to Women in Ministry.” If you have not read the previous three entries, I hope you will go back and do that before you read these concluding thoughts.  My prayer is that as I transparently share my own experiences, I can be an encouragement to you to continue to press on in your own God-given assignments, despite the obstacles you have faced.   Mothers of Nations, I send many blessings to each of you!

# 7 The big accusation word: control. None of us wants to be labeled as controlling or as a Jezebel. In the secular world, control is simply the leadership required to run a company, mange a household or keep things in order. But when applied to the work of God’s kingdom, the devil makes accusations of control. He tempts people to distrust leaders, especially when that leader is female. This hinders the development of God’s...

Today we continue with part three of the Charisma magazine article “Overcoming the Obstacles to Women in Ministry." I will be sharing obstacles # 5 and # 6. If you have not looked at the last two week’s of blog entries, I would encourage you to go back to the January 7 and January 14 entries for background before you move on with today’s offering.  

# 5 The challenge of a unique lifestyle. The lifestyle God had specifically called me to was the fifth hurdle I had to conquer. The Lord had called me to full-time ministry, but not my husband. Bill was a businessman who loved his secular job, and I loved the kingdom’s work. The two of us did not struggle with this, but we heard and felt the opinions of others. Some said if God called the wife, He would certainly call the husband alongside. Others warned having different callings would divide our marriage. We were told God’s order was for Bill to be the head of the ministry, and I was...

Today we continue with the article I wrote for Charisma magazine titled “Overcoming the Obstacles to Women in Ministry.”  Last week I shared two obstacles with you:  The issue of submission and the idea that “women can be deceived.”  If you did not read last week’s blog entry, I encourage you to do that first before continuing on with today’s entry of obstacles # 3 and # 4 that I faced as a woman minister and a Mother of Nations.

# 3 The fear of man. One day in the early 1970’s the Lord instructed me to call a citywide revival prayer meeting. This had never been done in my city, and I had no previous experience from which to draw. Innocently I phoned local ministry leaders to come to my home to pray on a Friday night. They came, but one man in the group immediately challenged my right to direct the meeting. Since God never said I had to be in charge, I was not threatened. But when he suggested that only the men...