Now Playing..."Encourage Yourself" by The Tri-City Singers -
Compliments of:
ATLGospel
3
Wise Women
YOU’VE
HEARD THE STORY OF THE THREE WISE MEN IN THE BIBLE. WELL, I WANT TO SHARE WITH
YOU SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THREE WISE WOMEN.
LET ME
BEGIN BY SAYING THAT PREPARING THIS MESSAGE WAS A LOT OF FUN FOR ME. ONE OF THE
REASONS IS THAT I DID A SURVEY. I ASKED SEVERAL OF MY FRIENDS, “WHO DO YOU
CONSIDER AMONG THE THREE WISEST WOMEN IN THE BIBLE?” THEIR RESPONSES MOTIVATED
ME TO DO MY PERSONAL RESEARCH BASED ON SOME OF THEIR ANSWERS.
LET ME
PAUSE HERE AND ASK YOU TO THINK OF THE THREE WOMEN WHOM YOU CONSIDER TO BE AMONG
THE WISEST WOMEN IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. LIKE YOU, MY FRIENDS NAMED MANY
DIFFERENT WOMEN.
YES, I
COULD HAVE CHOSEN:
1)
THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD. SHE WASN'T EVEN GIVEN A NAME. BUT SHE WAS
WISE ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT IF SHE COULD JUST TOUCH THE HEM OF JESUS’ GARMENT SHE
COULD BE MADE WHOLE. (MARK 9:20)
2)
ANOTHER WOULD BE THE QUEEN OF SHEBA. BEFORE THERE WERE AUTOMOBILES, AMTRAK OR
NORTHWEST AIRLINES, THE QUEEN OF SHEBA TRAVELED 1250 MILES ON A CAMEL TO HEAR
THE GREAT WISDOM OF KING SOLOMON. SHE KNEW SHE DIDN’T HAVE ALL OF THE ANSWERS.
3)
THEN THERE WAS REHAB THE HARLOT.
REHAB WAS
WISE ENOUGH TO HIDE THE JERICO SPIES FROM THE ENEMY. BECAUSE SHE DID, HER WHOLE
HOUSEHOLD WAS SAVED.
4)
WE SURE DON’T WANT TO LEAVE OUT ABIGAIL. ABIGAIL WAS MARRIED TO NABAL, WHOSE
NAME MEANT “FOOL.” AND, INDEED, NABAL WAS A FOOL. BECAUSE ABIGAIL WAS WISE
ENOUGH TO LISTEN TO HER SERVANT, SHE INTERVENED IN A SITUATION THAT KEPT KING
DAVID FROM KILLING HER HUSBAND AND EVERY MALE IN HIS HOUSEHOLD. YOU CAN READ
MORE ABOUT ABIGAIL IN I SAM. 25:23-42.
NOW LET
ME SHARE WITH YOU THREE OF MY PERSONAL FAVORITES. TWO ARE FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT
AND THE OTHER IS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT.
MARY OF
BETHANY
MARY OF BETHANY UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDITATION UPON GOD.
SHE MADE A GOOD DECISION TO SIT AT THE FEET OF JESUS. AS A RESULT OF THIS WISE
DECISION, JESUS COMMENDED HER BY SAYING. IN LUKE 10:42, “BUT ONE THING IS
NEEDED, AND MARY HAS CHOSEN THAT GOOD PART, WHICH WILL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM
HER.” HE GOES ON TO SAY IN MATT. 26:13, “TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, WHEREVER THIS
GOSPEL IS PREACHED IN THE WHOLE WORLD, WHAT THIS WOMAN HAS DONE WILL ALSO BE
SPOKEN OF IN MEMORY OF HER.”
MARY IS A REMINDER THAT OUR FIRST ORDER OF SERVICE IS TO SERVE THE
LORD…AND TO SIT AT HIS FEET. I LOVED THIS EXAMPLE SO MUCH THAT I NAMED ONE OF MY
BOOKS, “AT HIS FEET.”
ELIZABETH
ANOTHER WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF A WISE WOMAN COMES TO MY MIND WHEN I
THINK OF ELIZABETH.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT WE ARE TO ESTEEM ONE ANOTHER ABOVE
OURSELVES. ELIZABETH POSSESSED A SPIRIT OF HUMILITY. SHE ESTEEMED MARY, THE
MOTHER OF JESUS, ABOVE HERSELF.
LIKE SOME OF US, SHE COULD HAVE SAID, “WHY SHOULDN’T I BE THE ONE CARRYING JESUS
AND YOU BE CARRYING JOHN.” INSTEAD, ELIZABETH DIDN’T FIND IT DIFFICULT TO CALL
MARY, WHO WAS MUCH YOUNGER THAN SHE, THE “MOTHER OF MY LORD” AND “BLESSED ART
THOU AMONG WOMEN.” INSTEAD, ELIZABETH WAS WISE ENOUGH TO RECOGNIZE THE CHRIST
WHEN HE CAME INTO HER PRESENCE.
ANOTHER THING I APPRECIATE ABOUT ELIZABETH IS THAT SHE WAS WISE
ENOUGH TO BE OBEDIENT. SHE DID NOT BACK DOWN UNDER PRESSURE WHEN THOSE AROUND
HER COULDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WANTED TO NAME HER SON “JOHN.” NO ONE IN THEIR
FAMILY WAS NAMED “JOHN.”
I CAN IMAGINE SOME OF THE COCKEYED LOOKS ON THE CRITICS FACES AND THOUGHTS
GOING THROUGH SUSPICIOUS MINDS. (“WHO’S THIS JOHN?”) INSTEAD, SHE OBEYED GOD
AND SAID, “HIS NAME WILL BE JOHN”
JOCHEBED
(EX. 2:3)
LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, I WANT TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO A
WOMEN WHOSE NAME ISN’T EVEN MENTIONED IN THIS BOOK OF THE BIBLE. JOCHEBED, THE
MOTHER OF MOSES.
FOR MANY YEARS, I HAVE ADMIRED THIS WOMAN. SHE HAS TAUGHT ME HOW TO
LET GO. SOME OF US NEED TO LEARN THIS LESSON. “HOW TO LET GO.”
WE KNOW THE STORY. THERE WAS A DECREE OUT TO KILL ALL OF THE HEBREW
BOYS. BUT THERE WERE TWO MIDWIVES IN THIS ACCOUNT WHO FEARED GOD. THEY NEED TO
BE INCLUDED AMONG WISE WOMEN. “THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF
WISDOM.” THESE TWO MIDWIVES ALLOWED MOSES TO LIVE.
FOR A WHILE, JOCHEBED TRIED TO PROTECT HER SON FROM THE ENEMY. BUT WE ALL KNOW
THAT BABIES CRY. AFTER AWHILE, IT BECAME TOO DIFFICULT TO HIDE MOSES. THUS,
JOCHEBED MADE A QUALITY DECISION TO PUT HIM IN THE ARK OF SAFETY,
THE ARK OF SAFETY CAN BE COMPARED TO THE HANDS OF GOD. SHE PUT HIM ON THE NILE
RIVER, AND LET HIM FLOAT.
JOCHEBED’S DECISION TO GIVE HIM UP, TO LET HIM GO, EVEN THOUGH HE APPEARED TO
FLOAT RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY WHOM SHE WAS TRYING TO SAVE HIM FROM,
SAVED HER CHILD’S LIFE AND EVENTUALLY AN ENTIRE NATION.
ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PARTS OF THIS STORY
IS THAT
JOCHEBED’S SON WAS SAFELY RETURNED TO HER FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. AND SHE HAD AN
OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE HIM MILK. I BELIEVE THAT DURING THIS TIME JOCHEBED NOT ONLY
GAVE HIM BREAST MILK, BUT ALSO FATHER’S MILK. THE WORD OF THE LORD. I BELIEVE
SHE LAID HANDS ALL OVER HIM AND BLESSED HIM IN THE NAME OF THE LORD…AND THEN SHE
LET HIM GO…AGAIN.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE STORY, MORE THAN ONCE JOCHEBED HAD TO LET MOSES
GO.
CONCLUSION
FRIENDS,
SOMETIMES (AND I REPEAT, SOMETIMES) WE HAVE TO LET SOMETHING GO BEFORE WE CAN
GET IT BACK. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO LET GO OF? PERHAPS IT’S A CHILD. PERHAPS IT’S
NOT A CHILD, BUT ANOTHER RELATIONSHIP. MAYBE IT’S NOT A PERSON BUT A THING. OR
MAYBE A NEGATIVE EMOTION SUCH AS FEAR, DOUBT, UNFORGIVENESS, JEALOUSY, HATRED,
GRIEF. WHATEVER THE CASE, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO STOP HOLDING ONTO SOMETHING THAT
GOD WANTS YOU TO LET GO OF.
RECENTLY
I HEARD AN OLD SERMON BY JOYCE MEYER WHERE SHE QUOTED HER HUSBAND, DAVE, WITH
SHARING THE KEY TO BEING ABLE TO REALLY CAST OUR CARES UPON THE LORD. THE KEY IS
THIS: WE MUST BE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE OUTCOME, WHATEVER IT MAY BE, WHEN WE LET
GO AND TRUST GOD. CAN YOU DO THAT? IT MAY NOT BE EASY. BUT IT CAN BE DONE. LET’S
START OFF THE NEW YEAR TRUSTING THE LORD WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS.
WHATEVER
IT IS, PUT IT IN THE BASKET. USING YOUR SANCTIFIED IMAGINATION, PUT IT ON THE
NILE RIVER AND LET IT FLOAT. AND DON’T LET ME CATCH YOU WALKING ON WATER TRYING
TO GET IT BACK!
HAVE A
HAPPY HOLIDAY AND A NEW START IN LIFE!
MINISTER
MARY EDWARDS©2004
P.S.
DON’T FORGET TO PUT YOURSELF IN THE BASKET!
YOU ARE MY FRIEND! God bless you and yours. Minister Mary Edwards
