SWORDS Bible Study: What Is A Woman of God Part 3

It is my hope that you are all seeing what a woman of God is, what a woman after God’s own heart is all about.  A woman that believes God and does what He says to do!

This means we rightly divide the word of truth, so we can discern correctly what is for us today in this dispensation of God’s grace! It is freeing to know the truth and to take truth into our minds and soul to live godly lives in the Spirit!

It is freeing to know exactly who we are in Christ and what exactly is our ministry!

It can also, often be challenging as our flesh wars against our spirit!

Gal 5:17a For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:

It is of the flesh when we desire to see others doing the right thing, before we will do the right thing!  This is often the case amongst women and it is also true of men!

Waiting to see if someone does the right thing before we respond with the right thoughts and behaviour is not good. Protecting ourselves from perceived wrongs, that belittle us in the flesh is not good!  Withholding from others what we know to be right in our self-interest and ego, is not good!

This almost always leads to the wrong way, the unholy way if you will, submitting to our own supposed righteousness, and not submitting to the righteousness of God. But what have we learned about this?

Did Jesus wait to come until Israel did the right thing? No. Did He wait for the Gentiles to clean up their own act before He considered them good enough to send Paul with the gospel of the grace of God?  No. Did anyone have to stop sinning before Christ could love us enough to die for us? No, He certainly did not, as this verse attests to full:

Rom_5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We are not to wait for someone to do the right thing first; we are to walk in the Spirit. (Gal 5:16)

It is the children of God (Ro 8:16), who shine as lights in the world (Phil 2:15), the ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20), who is to do the right thing because we are to be walking in the Spirit, not the flesh.  To be those who shine as lights in the world to others!

We need to put the old man to death by putting on the new man to do the will of God, regardless of what others do or do not do!  How freeing, how powerful to walk in the Spirit regardless of what is happening all around us. Regardless of circumstances! To always choose God and His ways. To believe God and do as He has asked us.

This is true whether we are dealing with a believer or an unbeliever!

What an affect we can have on those around us! In my own life, I believed on Christ first and after two years found a church that I wanted to attend. My unsaved husband did not object to me going to church, but he was not interested in going or hearing about it…at all.

Every week I went to church and often a Bible study to learn, praise and worship God with other believers. It was difficult not to share my happiness with what I was learning with my husband who was also my best friend.

One morning about a year later, my husband was up and getting dressed with me and I asked him where he was going…and he replied, “I am going with you to church. I want to see what is changing you and making you so happy.”

When we listen to God’s word and rightfully appropriate it into our lives, we are filled with His grace and it cannot help but spill over to others.  If my husband had never come to Christ would it have mattered whether I had made life difficult for us both, or stayed prayerful and kept doing the right thing? Yes…very much so, in the continual trust and building of my faith in the Lord!  Giving pleasure to  God by my faith in the word of God! It is good to believe God! It is good to trust in Him and do what He has said regardless of circumstances.

It is good to note too, that we all submit to different authorities every day. Do you drive 75 miles an hour in a school zone? No. Do you shoot someone who has hurt your feelings or made you angry?  No. We submit to the laws of the land as we are supposed to, or there are consequences to our actions.

There are consequences when we live a life unto ourselves first, too.

Php 2:21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.

Not walking in the Spirit means we walk in the flesh. When we walk in the flesh we cannot do the things we would!

Gal_5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Walking in the flesh is now a CHOICE when we know that our old man is crucified with him and the body of sin might be destroyed…no longer serving sin!

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

These are the works of the flesh:

Gal 5:19-21a  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:

The consequences in this life can be awful.

These works of the flesh do not provide the comfort that goes beyond understanding, nor the joy of serving the Lord and one another. Peace is not reigning, and the old man is resurrected from the grave! Ugly thought, huh?

When we choose to submit to God’s righteousness we walk in the Spirit and bear fruit!

Gal 5:22-26 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

A woman of God does not put themselves above others to believe her worth. If we are truly a woman of God it will be because we are submitting ourselves to the righteousness of Christ! Our love and joy will be in the Lord, because we have submitted first of all unto the Lord Himself as He would have us. And this gives Him pleasure in us! And should give us the more pleasure in Him!

Next week our conclusion with Part 4.