Sweetly Broken

The Lord has been teaching me to let go of all the safe places that I tend to guard and protect. It's a crazy thing to look within yourself and see so much that can improve and change. And yet I know I can't do it on my own. I think our deepest longing in life is to know and be known by others. Ultimately we must do that with the Lord and he slowly teaches us how to mirror that with others. But I guess we are just all so broken and cracked that we hide behind these plastic faces...we can't trust, or be vulnerable or share our true self. Sometimes that's out of fear of not being good enough and sometimes we are afraid of being a burden. But what happened to being in each others worlds? It seems that the world tells us to grow up and be independant and to build a life that does not NEED anyone. But all the while, we are hiding the fact that we do need each other...and really, we want to need each other.

One of my favorite characters on TV is Bear Grylls from "Man vs. Wild". He told a story once of being the youngest person to reach the peak of Mt. Everest. He said he would never do it again and the biggest thing he learned was when he fell into a crevace and was saved from plummeting to his death by 2 friends he was tied into. He said, "I knew then that I needed people and that's ok". Don't we all want to be "tied into" someone when we reach our own life's crevace? Don't we want to be cared about so much that someone would care enough to reach down and risk their life to pull us out? And isn't that what Christ did for us? God teach me to love and be loved....and may I peer into you sacrifice afresh.

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled (Jeremy Riddle)

The Titus 2 Woman

The Titus 2 Woman
Romanian Women’s Retreat
October 16-18, 2009
Taught By: Caye Siller

Titus 2: 3-5 (NIV):
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

As women God gives us a standard in this passage to live by.
I. A Titus 2 Woman is an example of spiritual maturity

a. Spiritually mature women are reverent. (deeply respectful)
-Reverence towards God means laying down our family and dreams to embrace His.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God , because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Gen 22:12

-Reverence towards God means understanding where our beauty and worth comes from.
“Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious” (1 Peter 3:4).

-Reverence towards God means treating others with respect and dignity

b. Spiritually mature women are not slanderers
-Are you a part of the problem or the solution?
-Accountability

c. Spiritually mature women are not addicted
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Eph 5:18
There may be pain in your life that is in need of a deeper healing. Only Christ can heal your wounds.

d. Spiritually mature women teach what is good. (of a favorable character or tendency)

-Goodness is taught best by the way we live our life. We must earn the right to teach others by first living a life that is honorable and of good character.

-Character is who you are when no one is looking
Application:
Are you living a spiritually mature life? Circle the area you could most work on.
Reverence Towards God
Laying down your desires, family, dreams
Understanding your beauty and worth comes from the Lord
Treating others with respect and dignity
Gossip
Addictions
Living a life that is worthy of being an example to younger women

We are all on a journey toward these standards God gives us as women. We will always be in a process. The important thing is that you are a woman who is trying to live spiritually mature. If that is you it may be time to begin thinking about adopting a younger woman to minister to.

II. A Titus 2 Woman is a spiritual mother to younger women.
You may be thinking that you could be ready to impact a younger woman’s life but maybe you are unsure about how you would “train” them. Praise the Lord! God gives us the exact criteria in the following passage. Consider this your training manual.
a. Train younger women to love their husbands…and to be subject to their husbands (1 Pet. 2: 1&2) (Eph. 5:21)
-The “younger woman” defined.
-The topic of submission-“man vs. woman’s role”
-Unconditional love
b. Train younger women to love (Philandros/Philos) their children
-Training younger women can simply mean becoming a spiritual mother to them.
c. Train younger women to be self-controlled (restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires) (Gal. 5:23)

d. Train younger women to be pure (free from moral fault or guilt)

e. Train younger women to be busy at home and kind
(of a sympathetic, helpful or forbearing nature)
-an atmosphere of love and safety

The Great Commission: Matt 28:16-20

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Being a Titus 2 woman is God’s design to help women fulfill the Great Commission. We are to “go and make disciples” or in the word of Titus 2, “train younger women”. Becoming a spiritual mother to a younger woman is a way of participating in God’s genius plan of multiplication.

Your life can be a movement that echoes into the lives of younger woman well beyond the time of your passing.

A Titus 2 Woman Trains Younger Women. Could there already be a younger woman in your life you could begin investing in? Could you write her name in the space below?



Nicole Nordeman “Legacy”
I won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an 'Atta boy' or 'Atta girl'
But in the end I'd like to hang my hat on more besides
The temporary trappings of this world
I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy
I don't have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthly list of all that I enjoy
It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy
Not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
Just want to hear instead, "Well Done" good and faithful one...