Bone of My Bone & Flesh of My Flesh

As of late, I have been so concerned over the many marital problems that are all around me...friends and family who are divorced or separated and considering divorce...and trouble on many sides...both in the world and in the Church.  

As my mind kept lifting up these in prayer...I had like a memory of something keep coming up...and I had to go find it.  

Years ago, I wrote a book, The Inner Woman of the Heart and sold all but 2 of the 100 copies I published for $7.50 a book.  It cost $1000 to publish 100 copies.  

The truths I gained by living out what I wrote is still on-going.  I had been married 13 years when I published it...and that was 30 years ago...actually I it was written from 1982 to 1984 and published in 1984.  

This is the 4th chapter in the book.  I believe it is relevant for all who are presently having problems, and for all who have had problems in their marriage...pass it on to any and all that need it.  

Chapter 4

Bone of My Bone and Flesh of My Flesh

One morning, as I was sleeping, I began hearing a conversation going on that awakened me.  This conversation was not between two people in my room – it was going on down inside of me!  I heard:

“Tim does not have to compliment you.  He does not have

to tell you that he loves you.”

            The other voice seemed to answer very slowly and unsure of itself:

            “Why doesn’t he?”

          By this time, I was very much awake.  I realized that the Holy Spirit was teaching my spirit – my inner man – or rather – my inner woman – a truth.  I can honestly say that I was not happy about what I was hearing.  In fact, I was shocked at those words!

          The night before, I had turned over with my back to Tim, not angrily, but just a bit aggravated.  It seemed to me that he always noticed if things were not in order, but he never seemed to say the little things like, “The house looks so nice,” or “You look so pretty,” or “That was certainly a wonderful dinner!”  I was just a tiny bit exasperated with him.  In the past, I would have told him just what I thought about the situation, and we would have had a big argument.  However, I had spent that whole year keeping peace in my home and keeping strife out of my home.  So, instead of arguing, I just frowned and pouted a little and went to sleep.

          You can imagine how I felt to wake up with the Lord telling me that Tim does not have to compliment me.  I wanted to say, “Just whose side are you on, Lord?”  However, I held my tongue because I knew no matter how hard it was for me to listen – no matter how much it hurt – the Lord was teaching me something that would make my marriage better.

            As I got up out of the bed and went into the living room, I said,

           

“O.k., Lord, I’m listening.  I don’t understand, but I’m listening.  Didn’t

Paul tell husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies?

The Lord said:

            “Yes, Teddi, he did say that, but let’s back up on

what you’ve been learning. When you received me,

as Savior and Lord, and I gave you your measure

       of faith, was that enough faith to move a mountain?

            I said,

            “No, Lord, it wasn’t.”

            He said:

            “What did you have to do for that faith to grow?”

I said,

            “I had to plant it just like a mustard seed, and water it

and weed it, so that it would grow large like the plant

of the mustard seed does.”

            The Lord said:

            “What about the measure of joy?  Was it enough to

       count it all joy when you fall into divers’ temptations?”

       I said,

            “No, Lord, it wasn’t.”

            He said:

            What about the measure of love?  Was it enough to

love your neighbor as yourself?

I said,

“No, Lord, it most definitely was not.”

He said:

It’s the same with your marriage.  That husband-wife

relationship I speak of in Ephesians 5 is a reaped

harvest.  First, it must be planted, then watered and

weeded, then watered and weeded more and more.

Then, it must be harvested, so that it doesn’t die on

the vine. I said, …submit unto your husbands, as unto

the Lord…  Your submission has nothing to do with your

husband.  It has only to do with me.

I said,

“Lord, I’m not so sure that I understand.  Please give me wisdom

and understanding about this.”

The Lord said:

Do you serve me in order to feel good?

I said,

“No, Lord, because if I do, then I have not served you for the

right reason, and I am not blessed.”

He said,

“It is the same with Tim.  You want to feel good while

you serve him, or else you don’t want to serve him.”

I said,

“Lord, I hear what you are saying, but it is hard to obey my

husband when he never seems to see or appreciate what

I do.  He just does not seem to care.”

He said:

“Teddi, if you will walk in what I show you and do what I

tell you to do, Tim will love you as Christ loves the Church,

and he will take his rightful headship in your home.”

I can honestly say that this is probably the hardest lesson to receive from the Lord.  I wanted to have to do something to make our marriage better.  I wanted him to treat me better, so to speak.  Oh, he took wonderful care of me, as far as working and providing the necessities, but what I wanted from him was more attention in the little things.   I really did not like knowing that somehow it was my responsibility to be in the position to receive his headship in my home and that this responsibility included my obedience.  I had to plant the seed of love in my marriage, as well as the seed of peace, joy, and all the other fruit of the Spirit.  Then, I had to cultivate it – and harvest it?!  It sounded like a lot of work to me, and I found myself a little down, even a bit resentful.  Why should so much of the responsibility rest on me???!

            Then the Lord reminded me of my prayer several months before, when I had asked Him what know really meant in His WORD.  I had said,

            “Lord, I keep hearing the word know in my spirit.  What does

it mean?  In the Greek, the same word for a husband knowing

his wife when she conceived is the word for knowing You.  I

really do not understand!”

            After asking the Lord to explain this to me, I was talking on the telephone to my dear friend Emily.  I shared with her that I kept hearing the word know in my spirit. 

That very morning, the Lord had asked me:

            “Teddi, when you slept with your husband for the very first

time, did you really “know” him?” 

            I said,

            “No, Lord.  I didn’t.”

            He said,

            “Do you know him, now?”

      

I felt shame rise up in me.  I answered,

            “No, Lord.  I really don’t, but I want to know him.  I mean,

I really want to know him.  I want to know him body, soul,

and spirit.”

            After sharing this with my friend, Emily, she heard the Lord say,

            “Does Tim really know you?”

       Again, I felt shame – and sadness, too, this time.  I said,

            “No, Lord, Tim does not know me – not really. How can it be

that I’ve been married for 13 years, and, yet, I do not really

know my husband, and he doesn’t really know me.

       The Lord said:

            “Teddi, my child, I am pleased that you desire to know

your husband.  Most women are not aware that they do

not know their husbands until it is too late. Their marriages

usually end in disaster – divorce or a loveless marriage,

where they’re still married though they are total strangers. 

Even what the world considers to be good marriages could be

so much better if either the wife or the husband would

desire to know his or her mate better. 

Most of the time a Christian woman’s unsaved husband

doesn’t get saved until he’s an old man, wasting

many years in the world. It is not that she did not desire

his salvation, but she did not know him.  Most Christian

husbands and wives get far too busy with their ministries,

leaving their mate to whatever he/she does best, going

in separate directions.

Many marriages suffer because the Christian wife gets so

involved in the work of the Lord that she puts that ahead

of her vows to her husband.  Sacrifice becomes top priority

in her life instead of obedience. My daughters dedicate

themselves to the church they attend instead of to their

families, especially their husbands.  Wives see themselves

as so spiritual, constantly judging and condemning their

husbands – and their children, too, for that matter. 

My sons are also guilty of loving their church or ministry

instead of loving their wives.  They are very prideful in their spirituality, when I have told them that without love, they

become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.  I have told

them to love their wives because women need to be cared

for by providing for them a home, food, and clothing. 

Women need to be held close and told that they are

attractive or that they smell nice.  They need time spent

with and on them.”

I’ve said:

“Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains

favor of the Lord”, and, yet, many husbands, even 

servants of the Lord, have lost that wife by spending

too much time away from her.  Many a pastor, missionary,

teacher, or evangelist has placed his ministry before

his marriage, causing him to lose his children and/or mate. 

They are in danger of facing me with “hay and stubble”

that will burn up. 

My Word says,“A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband,

but she that maketh him ashamed is as rottenness to his bones.” 

I have also said, “Children’s children are the crown of old men…”,

and that “…the fruit of the womb is his reward.”  A man

who stands before me with his family intact – a virtuous wife

and godly children – will reap great reward, for his family is as

“gold and silver and precious stones.”  A man who stands before

me with his family in chaos will see his work burned and shall

suffer loss.  “For other foundation can no man lay than that is

laid, which is Christ Jesus.  Now, if any man build upon this

foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire,

and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.  If

any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall

receive a reward.  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall

suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.”

(1 Corinthians 3:13).

If my children only knew me; if they would only imitate me in

their homes.  How can they imitate me if they don’t know me? 

I speak of those who believe that they do know me – my born

again children.  They do not know me in all of my mercy, joy,

love, kindness, faithfulness, patience, long-suffering, goodness

– nor, do they know me in all my judgment.

I’ve learned one thing about my relationship with my heavenly Father, if you do not really want to know, don’t ask!  For the last several months, while I have been learning to know my husband, as well as my Lord, I have found that as I have sought to know them, I have come to know me!  I did not know me!  I not only did not know who I was; I did not know my potential.  I did not know that way down deep inside of me, all bottled up, and even bound up in chains, was a person I did not know. 

          You see, that person was the real me – my spirit!  It is the spirit that gets born again; it is also the spirit that whether born again or not makes me – ME!  It’s your spirit that makes you – YOU!  Out of fear, we Christians smother our born again spirit with do’s and don’ts,   almost immediately after we are first set free.  We are so afraid of liberty or freedom, most often confusing these words with license to sin.  We clothe our spirit with our denominational doctrines, usually wrapping up our spirits so tightly in chains of ritualism, legalism, or church dogma, that we go from one form of bondage right into another.  Christians are most often afraid of the freedom Christ offers;…”If the son has set you free, you are free indeed.”  We’re just like Israel, who murmured about their freedom and even asked to return to Egypt.  Somehow, we feel secure when we’re in bondage!

          I went from an extremely casual (though fashionable), down to earth, somewhat unkempt (very little or no makeup and natural-looking hair), fun-loving, fun-to-be-with, average-weight person, to a person who was afraid to have much fun or dress too attractively because it might be sinful.  I listened to preachers talk about not listening to any form of music except traditional church music, not watching any TV, not playing games – especially card or dice games, not going to movies of any kind, and reading only books that taught the same church doctrine that I was acquainted with.

          At first, I was afraid of contamination on every hand.  Then, I began to live and breathe all the do’s and don’ts, becoming a stuff-shirt, who was full of condemnation and judgment for everyone who did not give up their ungodly habits, or who did not dress like a Christian, or anyone who was not maturing as I was.  I was hearing the WORD and learning to recite scripture and claim my promises, but I now know that I was harsh in my heart with those who, in my opinion, were less spiritual than me.  I could not enjoy being with old friends; in fact, I was miserable when I was around them.  I attributed it to the fact that my born again spirit was miserable around unbelievers. 

          For several years, I thought the reason my husband no longer teased and kidded around with me was because I was more mature and spiritual than his sisters and that all that was somehow beneath me.  It was not until I began to desire to know him completely and entirely, that I realized the reason he did not know me was that I didn’t even know me. 

          Tim had placed me on sort of a spiritual  pedestal, as if I was a glass doll that he was afraid would break.  He would tell people what a wonderful Christian his wife was, but all the fun, the cutting up, seemed to be gone.  As far as he could see, the woman he was married to was untouchable; the girl he had married 13 years before had disappearedl

I sought my heavenly Father,

           

            “Lord, I don’ t understand.  I have tried so hard to do what your

WORD says –to be the wife that I’m supposed to be.  I’ve listened

to my preacher and so many other men of God, trying to learn my

            role as wife.  I’ve read and studied books and listened to tapes.

            I’ve attended Bible studies, Sunday School, Church, and prayer

meetings.  I’ve changed the old me – the way I act, look, and dress.

            Isn’t that what I was supposed to do?  Lord, Tim acts like I’m

untouchable!  I don’t want to be untouchable!  I want and need to be

touched!  I want him to hold my hand, put his arms around me, kiss me

on the nose or head, as well as the mouth.  I want him to caress me, to

wink at me, and yes, Lord I even want him to wrestle with me! 

I want him to hardly be able to keep his hands off me!.

            The Lord answered:

            Teddi, you have truly been walking closer to me.  You have

learned not to condemn you husband, but as you can see, you

are walking a far off from him.  As you have grown spiritually,

you have learned to listen to me.  You have not dominated nor

       intimidated Tim, which you would like to have done in the beginning. 

You have not deceived him or tricked him or conned him as

many wives do, achieving nothing. You have learned not

       to threaten or shame him into going to church or leading you

spiritually.  You have believed me when I told you this is my responsibility.  
Wives who do these things are doubly deceived

by satan because they are guilty of usurping authority over

their husbands and of not subjecting themselves to

       their husbands.

       Many years ago, you saw the importance of submission, and

you claimed 1 Peter 3:1-2 as your very own promise.  This

is my promise to women whose husbands are unsaved or

       who are disobedient in any area – that men who ‘…obey not

the WORD may without the WORD, be won by the

conversation – the behavior of their wives”

       I said,

           

            “Boy, do I remember claiming that promise.  In fact, I claimed

it for several years before anything happened.  I obeyed Tim. 

In fact, I was almost a doormat for several years, resenting that

I had to be walked on by the man that was supposed to love me

as Christ does the Church.  Lord, it was not until I joined the

church where I am now, that I learned about those people –

beginning with the pastor and his family, and spreading

throughout the whole church – loved me.  They did not really

know me, and, yet, they loved me. 

In fact, I’ll never forget the Sunday that Brother McQuaig,

my pastor, was asking me how all of us were, and he said,

‘How’s Tim?’  Expecting him to respond like other pastors,

I found myself explaining why Tim was not with me.  He said,

‘That’s o.k.  We love him anyway.’  I had expected him to

say, ‘He really needs to be in church, but he said, ‘We love

him anyway.’ 

That’s when I realized that I loved him anyway, too!  It was

not up to me to get him to church.  It was only up to me to live

a Godly life before him.  The rest was up to You, Lord.

Now, Lord, I know that it’s not up to me to teach Tim or make

him do anything.  I want to know him completely, and I want

to love him like You do because I am a member of your

body.  I want him to not only want me and need me.  I want

 him to like me!  I want him to enjoy cutting up with me

and simply enjoy being with me.  Show me, Lord, whatever it

is that I must change – I Am Willing!!

The Lord said,

“You know that I created woman for man, and you even

know that I created Eve for Adam – one particular

woman for one particular man – but, Teddi, you have

not realized that I created you for Tim.  You are

supposed to be everything Tim needs to be

a complete person – body, soul, and spirit.  You have

been trying so very hard to please me according to

what men (and women) have told you pleases me. 

You have changed the person that Tim fell in love

with so completely that he not only doesn’t recognize

you – he feels that he doesn’t measure up any more. 

This is an area that most women fall into – the

trap of striving to be the perfect wife.

Your see, there is no ONE PERFECT WIFE!  What

interested Tim in the first place was the fact

that you were unique.  He never dated or cared about

anyone quite like you.  He saw in you the strengths

that he did not have and the weaknesses in areas

where he was strong.  Together you balance out

your personalities.

Making me your Lord should have never changed

that, Teddi.  You see man has in his mind that all

of my children are to be robots or paper dolls –

maybe cloned identities.  I never conceived such

a plan.  It was conceived in the hearts of my

wicked, rebellious children.

What is good for one man is not necessarily good for

all men.  A weak-willed man needs a strong-willed

wife – not to dominate him, but to encourage him

in making decisions.  A man who is not compassionate

needs a sensitive wife, who can sympathize and

empathize with the needs of her children and their

friends. A man who does not spell very well needs

a wife who can spell. She is to be his completion.

In order that you become Tim’s completion, Teddi,

you must come down off your self-righteous

high-horse and most probably eat some crow. 

Are you willing to do this?

I said,

“Oh yes, Lord, I am!  I’ve never heard anything about

what You are teaching me, but it makes so much sense! 

If I am  bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, then,

in Your eyes, we are one person.  What You are saying is

that I am not in subjection to all men – but only to my

husband, Tim, for I was created in order to complete

him.  What an exciting, wonderful truth!   Lord, help

me to apply this to my life.”

The Lord said:

“Eve was taken from Adam.  She was created from

his rib while he slept. Adam called her woman because

she was taken out of man and said that she was bone

of his bone and flesh of his flesh.  He also prophesied

that man should leave his father and mother and the

twain shall be one flesh.  Paul taught this to the Church,

when he referred to marriage.

Each of my daughters should pray before marriage that

I would be preparing an Adam (husband) to receive her,

while I build/create her to be his Eve (wife).  This would

solve much heart break, avoiding much strife, and even

divorce. 

As for my married daughters, each one must submit to me,

so that I may mold her and make her into the Eve (wife)

that her Adam (husband) needs, at the same time, praying

scripture over her husband while I prepare him to receive

this wife (Eve) that he has never known.”

          Wow, what a revelation!  As I began to submit myself unto the Lord to make me the wife Tim needed, I found that when I had asked God to teach me how to know Him, I had bitten off a huge chunk.  I mean I had asked my Heavenly Father, who says that He will not withhold any good thing from me, to reveal to me a great mystery.  I knew that if I could grasp this mystery about marriage, I would truly understand Ephesians 5:32b where Paul says, “…I speak concerning Christ and the Church.

            I’m not sure that if I had had any idea what was in my immediate future concerning my relationship to my husband, I would have so boldly asked my Father to teach me such a  deep truth.  He says, Ask anything in my name and I will do it.  He also says, Seek and ye shall find.  As I write this chapter, I am still learning.  In fact, many times my typewriter remains dormant – totally unattended – because I am about to write.

          I have to tell you that it has not been an easy road, but it has been a joyously enlightening experience for me.  You see, I am not the same woman I was 6 or 7 months ago.  I do not look the same, nor do I act the same.  I am watching a transformation that is obviously no where near finished. 

Reminder to the reader that I had been married 13 years when writing this chapter.  I am now 62 and have been married 43 years.  I’m still being transformed in to that wife and moving as the Lord admonishes us, from glory to glory.  Hallelujah!

 

            God talks to us in His Word about putting on the new man; but there is certainly a lot of misunderstanding about what that means.  I kept trying to put on the person that everyone told me was supposed to be me!  I was most definitely a new creature, but I didn’t even recognize me.

         

          I said,

           

            “Lord, I keep trying so hard to be this person that

I’ve been taught to be.  I keep trying to be everything

            Your Word says that I am supposed to be, but for some

reason, it just isn’t working.  For a while, I’ll be doing just

fine, and, then, sure enough I blow it every time.  What’s

wrong with me, Lord?

The Lord said,

“Teddi, the person that you have clothed yourself

with is a disguise –she is a fake!  My church is

spitting out models just as if salvation was a play dough

mold, and my children were play dough.  They are

all trying to look, act, and think just alike.  I don’t

want a bunch of robots!  That’s why I created each one

of you different.  Remember, I said, If you are all eyes,

where will be the hearing?

When I say put on the new man, and for my daughters

this means the new woman, I am instructing you to clothe

yourself with the inner woman of the heart. You see,

before you were born again, your inner self or inner

woman was that little voice you heard when you would do

wrong.  As you got older, you could hardly hear her because

you had so hardened your heart.  When you were born

again, by the power of the Holy Spirit, it was the inner

woman – your spirit – that was born again.

It is as though you are now two people – your outer woman

and your inner woman. Notice how you react when your

outer woman is in control – you worry, panic, or get angry or

exasperated when tribulation comes your way.  When your

inner woman is in control, you act totally different – you are

calm, full of faith, and even joyful when you are tempted.

Now, what I want you to do is clothe yourself with

The real you – the you within which my Holy Spirit dwells.

Be free to be all that I intended for you to be even before

you were in your mother’s womb.  Allow the Holy Spirit in

you, to direct you into reaching your potential.”

Isn’t He wonderful!  It was so utterly unbelievable, as far as my physical nature was concerned.  Imagine – my Heavenly Father’s advice had been for me to be free to be me!  I could hardly believe that His advice was so simple!  All I knew was that if I was free to be me – I had to find out just who I was!

         

In other words, I had to strip off all the disguise or fake person that I had become and start all over with the Word of God.  I now know two things about myself that I had not known before.  First of all, I am Tim’s helpmate – Tim’s completion.  God said that Tim needed me to be completely whole!  Secondly, I am not like anyone else, anywhere else – I am the only ME

there is.  Silly as that sounds, once I got that into my head, and even better into my spirit, I was free – free to be me!

          This may sound a bit wild expressing this in written words, but I believe that you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Regardless of what denomination you belong to, or what religious background you received as a child, even though we may have looked different from one another, we’ve all tried to at least look and act like the women we thought measured up the best, as far as Godly standards went.  Most often, we have failed miserably!

            I want to share with you a scripture that will set you free:

       The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh

       holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of

       good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober,

to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet,

chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own parents,

       that the word of God be not blasphemed.  (Titus 2: 3-5)

            Let me quote this same scripture from the Englishman’s Greek New Testament to get the closest meaning for these verses.  In parentheses, you will find the Greek definitions, in order to clarify:

            The aged women in like manner, in deportment as becomes

sacred ones, not slanderers or enslaved to much wine,

teachers of what is right; that they may school the young

women to be lovers of their husbands (affectionate wives),

lovers of their children (maternal fondness for their

children), discreet (sound in mind; self-controlled), chaste

(clean, innocent, modest, perfect), keepers at home

(guards of their dwelling, or family; stayers at home;

domestically inclined; good housekeepers), good, subject

to their own husbands, that the word of God not be evil  

spoken of (Titus 2: 3-5).

            You see, the older women, both physically older and spiritually more mature, are to teach the younger wives their role as wife and mother.  This is the main key missing today, even in the Christian homes.  You may have had a mother who kept her house in perfect order and who seemed to have it all together; but, if she did not show by her outward affection how much she loved her husband and children, or she did not train you to keep house, then that is why you have battled all your married life with guilt and shame that you do not meet the requirements of a good wife and mother. 

          Until I studied this scripture, I was of the opinion that all women had a natural maternal instinct.  This simply is not true.  If God’s Word tells us that the older women must teach the younger women to love their husbands and children, then we must accept the simple fact, that loving our husbands and our children is learned behavior and notforeknowledge or womanly intuition or maternal instinct.  Even lions, who have been raised in zoos, instead of by their own mothers, when they birth their babies, they do not know how to care for them.  They, too, must be taught to love their offspring.

            In a previous chapter, I told you how I was involved in the Women’s Movement of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.  I was part of a counter movement that opposed the Equal Rights Amendment – not equal rights or fair treatment – but only the amendment.  I opposed what the National Organization of Women stood for – such as, abortion on demand and lesbian rights.  When NOW began, I believe lesbian rights were #8 on the list of demands they discussed at the International Woman’s Year Conference that was held in Houston, Texas, in 1977.  By 1982, at the National Convention, the “lesbian rights issue” had moved to one of the first place positions.

            In 1977, as I listened to their proposals, as I read their list of goals in their handbook, Revolution:  Tomorrow is NOW, I was so distressed, even disgusted to think that these were women – how could they be of my same gender?  I did not understand all the hate for men that I had read and heard about, or the lack of love for the unborn baby in their wombs.  Not only did I not understand, I literally loathed what they said and how they acted.  I finally confessed to my Lord that I actually loathed them that,

in fact, I truly hated and was disgusted by what they were trying to do to our nation and our homes!  I did not sit back and let them attack the Home without a fight, but I did not love my enemy as God tells us to do.  I had begun to hate them!

          Until God showed me what Titus 2: 3-5 means, I could not understand that these women were victims of our society even the Church because through disobedience to God’s Word, no one had taught them to love their husbands and their children – none of the older women in their lives – mothers, grandmothers, aunts, Sunday School teachers, school teachers, etc.  Everyone had expected them to be loving wives and mothers without teaching them how!

          I had to look back at my own life to see just how I had learned this quality of wife and motherhood.  I found that God’s Word was absolutely true as it always is – I had been taught by my mother to love my husband and my children.  My mother had openly hugged and kissed my daddy, and she had hugged and kissed her four daughters.  She had also allowed us to help her bake biscuits, cakes or cook other food, no matter how much mess was made.  She even allowed us to have opinions (as long as we were respectful), and she openly and frankly discussed whatever we asked her about, including sex.

          You see, I had actually taken all this for granted because that was all I knew.  I did not know at that time, that I was especially blessed with a wonderful teaching mother – a mother who did not shirk her responsibilities but faithfully taught us to enjoy being women.

          I don’t know what your mother was like, but if you love your husband and/or children, and you can openly express that love, delighting in them, then either your mother, or some wonderful older woman taught you.  You may want to thank her like I recently did my mother.  If you have felt guilt for not being the loving wife and mother that the children’s books talk about, then you must realize that you were a victim of non-teaching or ignorance, referred to in the Bible as lack of knowledge.

          The absolutely wonderful thing about our Lord is that we do not have to stay in that condition of ignorance.  Jesus tells us:

            But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the

Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things,

and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever

       I have said unto you (John 14: 22).      

       In other words, once we recognize Jesus’ Lordship in our lives, and we confess it with our mouths, believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead – we are saved!!  His Holy Spirit then comes to abide within us – and to teach us all things!!  How much more of the Holy Spirit will He give to them who ask?  The Holy Spirit will teach us how to love our husbands and our children, if we will only desire to know and will ask.  Asking is the key to receiving.  Even though he knows our hearts – our every need – He still tells us to ask!  We have not because we ask not!

            As this chapter comes to a close, my prayer for you is:

                

“Lord, bless all the wives and mothers of this nation and of

this world.  Bless them, whether they know you or not.  If they       

know you, then I ask that you minister to the need in their home,

whether they are sitting on a time bomb called divorce, or whether

they are already separated, or whether their children have rebelled

and left home – I ask right now, as Your child, who you have called into this ministry of intercession for wives and mothers – for women regardless

of their need – I ask You, Father, to meet their need! 

If they do not yet know You as their Heavenly Father, then I ask that You send someone to them now that will meet their physical need and pray

with them, meeting their Spiritual need.  I’m depending on You, Father, to do what You said that You would do.  I’m bringing to Your remembrance that

You have said, ‘Ask anything in my name, and I will do it.’  I am asking, Lord, for deliverance for the Home – for all the individual homes that make up this nation and the world.

 

I rebuke, satan, in the name of Jesus Christ, and by the

authority that Christ has given me to use His Name, I command satan

to take his hands off the homes of America and the rest of

the world.  Greater is He that is within me than he that is in the

World.  We wives and mothers resist you, satan, and therefore,

you must flee!

Thank you, Father, for all the homes that are now FREE!!! 

In Jesus’s Name,

Amen & Amen.

           

October and Living for Jesus

October is such a neat month!

I mean, in the country I live in, the United States of America, October is a major month of the season, Autumn.

Leaves are already beginning to change here in Atlanta, Georgia…even more so in the mountains where we have a cabin!

Temperatures have dropped…days are comfortable instead of hot…and our nights are down right chilly!!

The northern states are cooler than we are, of course, since they are located in the higher latitudes.

There’s an excitement with this crisp air!

I’ve even been in the mood to crochet.  I’m working on an afghan with 3 warm colors…chocolate brown, dark tan, and cream/beige.

 

I can’t even enjoy the craft of crochet when it’s hot…but when the air cools…I like to sit and create something for my family or a friend.

I love that I live where I have all 4 seasons every year!

So, as I’m enjoying all of this...I mean the trees and the cooler temperature and the gorgeous days…all of God’s creation…there is a counterfeit that comes in to try to steal my pure affections for the LORD JESUS.

I’m speaking of the ghosts and goblins that are beginning to decorate many of the houses around me.

All the stores are decorated with and selling decorations for a day that has become competitive with Christmas. 

I mean the sales at Halloween compete with Christmas sales.

                                                                                                                                   

You might think that there were many witches, or sorcerers, or idolaters in our nation, since there are so many houses and stores decorated…and so many television shows and movies about Halloween.

We all know that Christmas is…at least it is supposed to be...a holiday…or Holy day…for us to celebrate the birth of our Savior and LORD, JESUS CHRIST!

The Church, throughout the world, celebrates Christmas in our churches and in our homes.  We celebrate the LORD’s crucifixion at Easter…in the Spring.

My concern is that so many Christians…Believers in Christ…celebrate Halloween.  Now, how do they celebrate Halloween?

Well, they dress up like…ummm…well, some dress up in superman characters…or toys that children play with…but some dress up like ghosts or witches or even the devil. 

Adults have parties that often look like orgies.

 

Why is that?  And, what do these people believe about these creatures…and the behavior at the parties?

                                             

If you were to go on google and type in the words…”What does the Bible say about witchcraft or witches or sorcery or magic?”  Maybe, you did not know the Bible talks about these things…well, it does.

You can get a Bible perspective or you can type in “What do witches believe about Halloween?

I read today from a Christian perspective, and I read from the perspective of a witch…and what’s amazing is that they said the same thing.

If you have never researched Halloween, and you are a Believer in Jesus Christ, you owe it to yourself and your children to find out what it is.

Ever since I did…almost 40 years ago…I’ve had nothing to do with it.

I just found it hard to be Holy as the LORD is Holy…as He tells us to do in His Word…and to be Holy as a ghost or witch.

I found it impossible to walk in the Spirit…and to mingle with other spirits.  I know that sounds wild but it’s true.

If you go to a carnival, and sometimes the people…like the one who reads palms seems eerie…it is because that person is a sorcerer…looking into the future outside the Spirit of God.

Saul was rebuked by God for seeking the advice of the witch of Endor…and God rebukes us with His WORD when we do the same.

There are palm-readers in almost every town in the United States.

Remnants of the New Age Movement is still in our midst.  Remember all the ankhs women wore that were involved in the the Feminist Movement in the late 70’s and early 80’s? An Ankh is an Egyptian symbol of fertility.

The LORD told Israel through Moses to have nothing to do with the gods of Egypt, and after 40 years of being in the desert, the LORD told Joshua the same thing about the gods of Canaan. 

If we dress up like and play games of or rub shoulders with all this during this unholy festival, are we not playing footsie with the devil and his cohorts.

I mean, I know it’s only one night a year, but I just can’t do it one night…I can’t give up my Holy God for one night…and I sure can’t take His Holy Spirit with me to these rituals.

I shudder to think of it!

I also can’t watch things about vampires…since they represent the evil one.  I mean no LORD JESUS or Holy Spirit of God drinks blood.

I mean Our God poured out His blood for us…he doesn’t drink our blood as a ritualistic sacrifice.

I do not believe in ghosts.  I believe to be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD…as the Word says…and once with the LORD…I believe that we wait until our bodies rise from the grave to join our spirits.

There is a cloud of witnesses around me all the time…all those who’ve gone before me…they are cheering for me every day…but they are not disembodied spirits that are trapped here.

The LORD says, “Fear Not!” over and over in the WORD!

Why? Because we are to Trust Him with all our hearts and not be afraid.

Movies, games, books, constumes…all with the theme of scaring people to death…of frightening them…well, it’s not a God thing is it?

I’ve prayed with fearful people, and many have confessed that they have caused fear in their lives by what they watch and read. 

Thus the song we sang as children, “Be Careful little eyes what you see. Be careful little minds what you think. Be careful little ears what you hear.”

The LORD tells us to thing on things that are lovely, pure, or a good report, etc., in order to have peace of mind.

Scary things do not give our mind peace.

Funny, that you can draw for a child…a man with a mischievous face…or dress him or a woman in black…and have them walking around in the dark…and fear will creep up their spine.

 

Tell the child to draw a good person and a bad person…and color and facial expressions and clothing will be different for the two.

The LORD clearly says, “Depart from evil and do good!”

What do we think this means?

Resist the devil, and he will flee! Playing around with the devil keeps him around us.

I tell my grandchildren the same that I told my students and their daddy’s, my sons. 

“Mimi doesn’t do Halloween.”  “Mama didn’t either, and neither did Mrs. Holt.”

I pray the LORD raise up in you the boldness to stand and not do Halloween anymore.  Peer pressure may be a struggle, but it always is….

Until the next time…

Teddi