Roles of a woman-Day 1                                                      7-26-04

All scripture is from the AMP version of the bible.

In researching all the roles I felt led to cover by the Lord, if you look then all relationships can and do when they are healthy point to the relationship we need with the Lord.  All the roads we take in life lead to the Lord.  It’s when we are on the road and know it that true blessings happen.  It’s astounding how clear it is in all of life how the Lord shows us in everything that He so clearly loves us.  May the Lord bless you as well as me on the road to true life in Him in all our relationships and roles!

I felt 8 main roles needed looked into as to what scripture and the Lord has to say for each.

They are:

1. Our role as a woman
2. Our role as a friend
3. Our role as a disciple
4. Our role as a daughter/daughter-in-law
5. Our role as a sister/sister-in-law
6. Our role as a bride and how that ties into what a Bride of Christ should know
7. Our role as a wife and how marriage shows us relationship with the Lord of our souls
8. Our role as a mother/stepmother/mother-in-law and how the Lord shows He is gentle as a mother, and nurturing

In studying each of these roles, I apologize for not getting this study out sooner but the weekend was crazy and the more I learned the more I wanted to have this complete so that it would be a blessing where the Lord would stretch us in our knowledge of ourselves and of Him.

I learned that the word for woman refers also to a married woman.  Woman is called woman because she is taken out of a man. 

Genesis 2:23 ²³Then Adam said, This [creature] is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of a man.

When you look at Eve, you realize that we have some influence in a mans world that should be prayed over and taken to the Lord for wisdom.  Women have a strong influence in their family’s lives.  There is scripture all over in the bible about the good and bad about being a woman from those that have not been God fearing.  There is so much about being a woman that is a blessing and we need to be careful that we are not a bad influence or one that is not careful in the relationships that our lives touch.  In our hands for a lot of us are the next generation of believers and being a stay at home mother or not you still influence what the next generation will have to deal with.  No small measure when considering all the people our lives touch.  The next generation of women need taught the scripture is alive and there for them. 

1 Timothy 5:2 ²[Treat] older women like mothers [and] younger women like sisters, in all purity.

This scripture says so much.  That those that have not had children do not mean we are not to influence and foster other women in faith in Jesus Christ.  Our very actions are a witness to who and what we are in our lives. 

In looking at this scripture I think it says quite a little about how we can use our efforts.

Proverbs 14: 1 EVERY WISE woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands. 

The house is often times symbolic for our heart.  We are wise when we build our heart up in the Lord instead of tearing it apart with things that are not good or godly in our lives.  The next scripture is something I believe to point out that if your esteem is all in your body then it’s misplaced and will not hold up as all our bodies’ age. 

Proverbs 31:30 ³⁰Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!

 So often we by the lies of youth that exterior is what needs looked at but if there is nothing spiritual for the Lord inside that beauty is in decay along with the heart. 

I think Titus 2:3-5 describes the why of it; we are in a sacred service to the Lord Jesus, showing other women how to be godly women.  To give good counsel and teach what is right and noble.  When you think of how the world is looking for answers and not finding them in any number of dead ends with beliefs in which they have been miss led then is the time to realize if we don’t walk in the answer which is Jesus Christ as Lord over our lives then how will they know we find it the answer?

Titus 2:3-5 ³Bid the older women similarly to be reverent and devout in their deportment as becomes those engaged in sacred service, not slanderers or slaves to drink. They are to give good counsel and be teachers of what is right and noble. ⁴So that they will wisely train the young women to be sane and sober of mind (temperate, disciplined) and to love their husbands and their children, ⁵To be self-controlled, chaste, homemakers, good-natured (kindhearted), adapting and subordinating themselves to their husbands, that the word of God may not be exposed to reproach (blasphemed or discredited).

I think that our roles as women can be enriching for those whose lives we touch.  Jesus does have a place for us in His service.  In our relationships, in our lives as we walk in these roles, and in our faith as we walk it out.  May this find you blessed in your searching your heart for what the Lord would show you this day and the rest.

love

alicia

Lord,

I ask Your hand over this enlightening of our roles as women, and our relationships to show us how to be more godly and seek Your will first and foremost.  You use the natural to explain the supernatural and we ask You to show us You in all of this.  Also, to bless our walk in our life as our roles can and do affect others.  May they be healthy spiritually, physically and mentally for Your great good will in our lives.  In Christ Jesus name Amen.

All scripture is from the AMP version of the bible.

In our roles as a disciple as a woman I feel led to define what the word means as a rule.  A disciple is someone who is a student, learner or pupil.  Used most often as a follower of Jesus.  In the Greek world a disciple referred to an adherent of a particular teacher or religious/philosophical school.  The disciple is to learn study and pass along sayings and teachings of the master.  In Rabbinic Judaism disciple referred to someone committed to the interpretations of scripture and religious tradition given by the master or Rabbi.  The process of learning would include a set meeting time.  Teaching methods were question and answer, instruction, repetition and memorization.  In time the disciples would pass on the tradition to others. 

The gospels refer to Jesus as Rabbi.

Mark 9:5 ⁵And Peter took up the conversation, saying, Master, it is good and suitable and beautiful for us to be here. Let us make three booths (tents)--one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.

John 1:38, 49  ³⁸But Jesus turned, and as He saw them following Him, He said to them, What are you looking for? [And what is it you wish?] And they answered Him, Rabbi--which translated is Teacher--where are You staying?
⁴⁹Nathanael answered, Teacher, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!

His disciples were called to “follow Him” and this called for extreme personal sacrifice such as loss of family, property and so on.  He calls for life long allegiance, which is essential to doing the will of God. 

John 17:16-18 ¹⁶They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth. ¹⁸Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

Jesus 12 disciples were representation of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Matthew 19:28 ²⁸Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, in the new age [the Messianic rebirth of the world], when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

The gospels show “disciple” to refer to more than the 12 disciples but to those that were “followers”.  Jesus selected the 12 disciples from the followers.  The followers included men and women from all walks of life. 

Luke 6:13-17 ¹³And when it was day, He summoned His disciples and selected from them twelve, whom He named apostles (special messengers): ¹⁴They were Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵And Matthew and Thomas; and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot,
¹⁶And Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor (a treacherous, basely faithless person). ¹⁷And Jesus came down with them and took His stand on a level spot, with a great crowd of His disciples and a vast throng of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to listen to Him and to be cured of their diseases—

Luke 8:1-3 ¹SOON AFTERWARD, [Jesus] went on through towns and villages, preaching and bringing the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God. And the Twelve [apostles] were with Him, ²And also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had been expelled; ³And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager; and Susanna; and many others, who ministered to and provided for Him and them out of their property and personal belongings.

John 12:42 ⁴²And yet [in spite of all this] many even of the leading men (the authorities and the nobles) believed and trusted in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that [if they should acknowledge Him] they would be expelled from the synagogue;

The 12 disciples were sent out as representatives of Jesus to preach the coming kingdom, cast out demons, and heal diseases. 

Matthew 10:1 ¹AND JESUS summoned to Him His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of weakness and infirmity.

Mark 6:7-13 ⁷And He called to Him the Twelve [apostles] and began to send them out [as His ambassadors] two by two and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits. ⁸He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick--no bread, no wallet for a collection bag, no money in their belts (girdles, purses)-- ⁹But to go with sandals on their feet and not to put on two tunics (undergarments). ¹⁰And He told them, Wherever you go into a house, stay there until you leave that place. ¹¹And if any community will not receive and accept and welcome you, and they refuse to listen to you, when you depart, shake off the dust that is on your feet, for a testimony against them. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgment day than for that town. ¹²So they went out and preached that men should repent [that they should change their minds for the better and heartily amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins]. ¹³And they drove out many unclean spirits and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The 12 disciples were not the only ones these tasks were for.

Luke 10:1-3 ¹NOW AFTER this the Lord chose and appointed seventy others and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to come (visit). ²And He said to them, The harvest indeed is abundant [there is much ripe grain], but the farmhands are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
³Go your way; behold, I send you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.

Acts 6:1 ¹NOW ABOUT this time, when the number of the disciples was greatly increasing, complaint was made by the Hellenists (the Greek-speaking Jews) against the [native] Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked and neglected in the daily ministration (distribution of relief).

Acts 11:26  ²⁶And when he had found him, he brought him back to Antioch. For a whole year they assembled together with and were guests of the church and instructed a large number of people; and in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Acts 14:22   ²²Establishing and strengthening the souls and the hearts of the disciples, urging and warning and encouraging them to stand firm in the faith, and [telling them] that it is through many hardships and tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Acts 15:10 ¹⁰Now then, why do you try to test God by putting a yoke on the necks of the disciples, such as neither our forefathers nor we [ourselves] were able to endure?

Acts 9:36  ³⁶Now there was at Joppa a disciple [a woman] named [in Aramaic] Tabitha, which [in Greek] means Dorcas. She was abounding in good deeds and acts of charity.

We are to be imitators of Jesus as a disciple.

John 8:31 ³¹So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.

John 15:8  ⁸When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.

In looking at all the scripture and thinking on our role as women who are disciples and to disciple I think it is clear that we are to fellowship and learn together so that we can discern from scripture, Jesus Christ in our hearts, and the Holy Spirit guiding us daily in prayer and answer.  Our first ministry as women is our families and friends as we don’t want one to not know eternal life with Jesus.

love

alicia

Jesus, I lift us up as women in the training of disciples.  Be our Rabbi, our teacher in all that we say and do so that we bear much fruit in Your name.  We desire no one miss the opportunity to know You as their Savior.  As we have been reached show and guide us to reach others in discipleship.  We want to know You more.  In knowing You more, we can tell others more.  We pray this blessing upon us in Christ Jesus name Amen.