Shiphrah & Puah

Do you know who these Biblical women were?

They were my kinda women!

Their story is in Exodus chapter 1.

Shiphrah and Puah were midwives to Hebrew women.

They were women who feared God more than the king.

They were women knew that God was the giver of life.

They were women who chose to do the right thing.

Even when the right thing could mean their own lives were put in jeopardy.

These midwives were told by the king of Egypt to kill all the baby boys as they were born, to the Hebrew women, and let the girl babies live.  I don't think it took them any time at all to decide that they were NOT going to do this.  (Hmmmm this reminds me of Daniel and can you think of others?)  Verse 17 says, "but the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live."  

Wow, they really took a stand for right and honored their God as they did this. I think I would have been very much afraid to stand up to the king of Egypt.  But they knew their God was with them.  They also knew that as they honored and pleased Him, He would protect and honor them.  When questioned by the king, what did they say?  They said,  "... the Hebrew women are NOT like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."  Go Hebrew women!!  Go Shiphrah and Puah!! 

The verses that REALLY encourage me are these......

20-21  "So God dealt well with the midwives. 

And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 

And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families."  

Again we see God working in His sovereignity to:

                          build the 70 people who fled to Egypt into His Chosen Nation

                          make them a strong people under the most adverse of circumstances

                          bless those women who CHOSE to honor Him in their decisions

One of these women was probably the midwife who attended the birth Jochebed when she gave birth to Moses.  The LORD used Moses in a mighty way to lead HIS PEOPLE out of bondage and into the Holy Land!

What choices will you make today?  

What choices will you make in the future?  

Choose to honor Him in your choices.

It will bring great joy to your heart and much glory to your LORD!

"In Christ Alone"

The Getty's just happen to be my favorite musical group.  

And probably will be till I die.  

Their music is so Biblically accurate and it reaches to the depths of my soul!

Today, January 31st, is the 10th anniversary of their song, "In Christ Alone".  

You can listen to it here and have your heart encouraged!

You can also find good deals on their recordings.

Genesis = Today

Just finished reading the book of Genesis again.  Whew ... this book could sound like a modern day afternoon television program.  There is a little bit of everything found in Genesis .....

     distrust, lies, (Abraham, Laban)

     deceiving your father/husband (Rebekah, Jacob)

      unfaithfulness to daughters (Lot)

      unfaithfulness to wife (Abraham)

      doubting God's promises (Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Rachel)

      murder (Simeon, Levi)

      hatred of siblings, betrayal of siblings (Joseph's siblings)

      immorality (Sodom)

      rape (Shechem)

     liars (Joseph's brothers)

and the list goes on and on......

I am reminded of God's  soverignity  in each and every life and situation.  Then and now.  Those things that we abhor and think "how could they" God used for good to accomplish His ways.  And so He continues to do today.  Not in Joseph's wildest thoughts, when he was sold to some Ishmaelites, did he ever imagine that he would be "set over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 41:41).  That God would use him to preserve his very own family from starvation and extinction.

What an encouragement it is to know that this same God sees and knows all things.  Just as He was sovereign over the lives of the people in Genesis, so He is sovereign over all the details of our lives today.

Trust Him !

"This God--His way is perfect;

the word of the LORD proves true;

He is a shield for all those who

take refuge in Him."

2 Samuel 22:31

  

HE is ...... in every Book

of the Bible.  

In this song, by Aaron Joeffrey, they talk about who God is or how He is represented in each Book of the Bible.  I have been thinking lately about the 'Scarlet Cord of Redemption' found from the beginning (Genesis) right on through the book of Revelation.  This song helped me visualize today just how Awesome my God is!

In Genesis, He's the breath of life

In Exodus, the Passover Lamb

In Leviticus, He's our High Priest

Numbers, The fire by night

Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice

In Joshua, He is salvation's choice

Judges, law giver

In Ruth, the kinsmen-redeemer

First and second Samuel, our trusted prophet

In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign

Ezra, true and faithful scribe

Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of broken walls and lives

In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage

In Job, the timeless redeemer

In Psalms, He is our morning song

In Proverbs, wisdom's cry

Ecclesiastes, the time and season

In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet

In Lamentations, the cry for Israel

Ezekiel, He's the call from sin

In Daniel, the stranger in the fire

In Hosea, He is forever faithful

In Joel, He's the Spirits power

In Amos, the arms that carry us

In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior

In Jonah, He's the great missionary

In Micah, the promise of peace

In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield

In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival

In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage

In Zechariah, our fountain

In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah

In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven

In Romans, He's the grace of God

In Corinthians, the power of love

In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin

Ephesians, our glorious treasure

Philippians, the servants heart

In Colossians, He's the Godhead Trinity

Thessalonians, our coming King

In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our mediator and our faithful Pastor

In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant

In James, the one who heals the sick.

In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd

In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride

In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords

He is, He is, HE IS!

The prince of peace

The Son of man

The Lamb of God

The great I AM

He's the alpha and omega

Our God and our Savior

He is Jesus Christ the Lord

and when time is no more

He is, HE IS!

Who could ask for anything more!

HE IS all we need for life & godliness!


If you have 7 minutes, here is a link to 
watch & listen to this song.  

Friday .... funnies

After many years of faithful use

my curling iron quit heating.

When I buy something my thought process goes something like this.

If I just use it once in a while.....I can buy any kind.

However, if it is something I use every day

I like to make sure I am getting the best for our hard earned dollar.

So after researching products I decided to buy a 

"Hot Tools" curling iron.

My mother in law needed a new one also....so I bought two.

It looks nice.  It works well.  The spring is nice and tight.  

It heats up fast.  The temperature dial is easy to see and to set.

Perfect.  It was a little more than a Wal Mart curling iron but

I was willing to pay a bit more as I will be using it almost every day.

I sat down to read the directions and it told me all the normal

things you would expect to read about something electrical.

Like ---------

 Don't leave it unattended when plugged in. 

(Who would do that !??!)

Turn off the switch when not in use.   

Use only for intended purpose.

Never operate this appliance if it has a damaged cord or plug.

Then there were several surprising instructions:

THIS CURLING IRON IS HOT WHEN IN USE.
(Really ? ? ... )

 DO NOT LET EYES AND BARE SKIN TOUCH HEATED SURFACES.
(I must not have read those instructions when I burned my forehead AND my fingers!)

  

But the one that really got me laughing was this.

NEVER USE WHILE SLEEPING!!

I will keep that in mind while using my new curling iron!

Like Father ..... Like Son

In Genesis chapters 20 and 26 some very remarkable things take place.

Chapter 20 finds Abraham lying about his wife Sarah.

Telling Abimelech that she is not his wife but his sister.

And he did this mostly to protect HIMSELF.

Isaac was not born yet.  He did not hear his father tell this lie.

(Which in reality is a half truth....which makes it a half lie ? ? )  lol

Chapter 26 finds Isaac telling the same lie to a different Abimelech.

The same old sin of deception raises its ugly head....just like it did in his father's life.

Isaac put Rebekah's purity on the line....for ......  HIMSELF!

Both of these men had an ungodly ruler rebuke them for their deception.

That must have really hurt!

To think that these Abimelech's or ungodly rulers had higher standards

then these men whom God had spoken with....is hard to understand.

In God's soverignity, neither Sarah nor Rebecah was harmed.

That is a true blessing and encouragement to me.  

Our purity matters to Him.  He is pleased and honored by our purity.

Even though the 'protectors' in these women's lives made some horrible mistakes,

God's protection was there....guarding....keeping.....preserving!

I read a little commentary that was encouraging to me about these chapters.

Because, I too, am a sinner, and my children watch......and perhaps follow in my footsteps.

"Our children walk in our footsteps.  They must come to a personal relationship with the Savior,

 the LORD Jesus Christ.  Our children must begin at the point we did.  

Then they must be allowed to make mistakes as we did

 in order that they may come to a more mature faith 

and trust in the God who has called them.

We prefer that our kids not make the same mistakes we did. 

But Isaac did walk in a path nearly identical to that of his father. 

 Let 's be willing to allow our children to fail and to grow in the way God has purposed.  

Much as we would prefer it otherwise, our children cannot begin 

to relate to God on the level of our walk.  

They must start at the beginning.

  

We can best help our children by making certain that our footsteps 

are such that we would want our children to walk in them.  

If our children's lives are to mirror our own,

 what an awesome responsibility we have as parents to walk

 a path of obedience and submission to the will and ways of our God."

--B. Deffinbaugh

How are your "footsteps" today?