Monday, March 11, 2013
Please visit my new website
Please visit my new website @ http://sandrasaylor.com for lots of new devotions!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Renewed Virginity
Tuesday, January 18
3 do not waste your strength on women,
on those who ruin kings.
The Message translates the first sentence of the previous verse like this, “Oh, son of mine, what can you be thinking of! Child whom I bore! The son I dedicated to God!” It seems obvious what this promise of hers was thinking! This mother was not naïve. She was the original advocate for talking to your kids about sex and other pitfalls of life! The word ‘strength’, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance means wealth, valor, and virtue and is confirmed by The Message translation, “Don't dissipate your virility on fortune-seeking women, promiscuous women who shipwreck leaders.” Recently, I was cable channel surfing. I came across The Joy Behr Show. A guest host was interviewing two beautiful young women who were discussing their life as part of a harem. Their manager, who was there along with them, vehemently asserted that the young women were free to leave any time and that he, in no way, was a pimp! The interviewer stated that she had heard that virgins are becoming more and more desirable and asked him the going rate for a virgin. He stated a virgin can bring as high as one million dollars.
Have you have lost your virginity, physically or metaphorically? You can still become virtuous. Remember Bathsheba. The word, virgin, implies an absence of an action. Virtuousness implies a lifestyle.
In what ways are you living a virtuous life?
Can you articulate, on a separate piece of paper, a time when you wasted your “strength, wealth, valor, or virginity?”
Now, take that piece of paper out side, and give it to God in exchange for His forgiveness, make an altar and burn it! It is gone! It is impossible to reassemble!
Journal your confessions of renewed virginity.
3 do not waste your strength on women,
on those who ruin kings.
The Message translates the first sentence of the previous verse like this, “Oh, son of mine, what can you be thinking of! Child whom I bore! The son I dedicated to God!” It seems obvious what this promise of hers was thinking! This mother was not naïve. She was the original advocate for talking to your kids about sex and other pitfalls of life! The word ‘strength’, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance means wealth, valor, and virtue and is confirmed by The Message translation, “Don't dissipate your virility on fortune-seeking women, promiscuous women who shipwreck leaders.” Recently, I was cable channel surfing. I came across The Joy Behr Show. A guest host was interviewing two beautiful young women who were discussing their life as part of a harem. Their manager, who was there along with them, vehemently asserted that the young women were free to leave any time and that he, in no way, was a pimp! The interviewer stated that she had heard that virgins are becoming more and more desirable and asked him the going rate for a virgin. He stated a virgin can bring as high as one million dollars.
Have you have lost your virginity, physically or metaphorically? You can still become virtuous. Remember Bathsheba. The word, virgin, implies an absence of an action. Virtuousness implies a lifestyle.
In what ways are you living a virtuous life?
Can you articulate, on a separate piece of paper, a time when you wasted your “strength, wealth, valor, or virginity?”
Now, take that piece of paper out side, and give it to God in exchange for His forgiveness, make an altar and burn it! It is gone! It is impossible to reassemble!
Journal your confessions of renewed virginity.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Don't Live in Reverse!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
2 O my son, O son of my womb,
O son of my vows,
The Amplified Bible says it like this, “What, my son? What, son of my womb? What [shall I advise you], son of my vows and dedication to God?” The repetition of the word “what” amply describes the weightiness a mother feels when faced with the responsibility of another human life. “What shall I do?” “What shall I say?” “What if I make a mistake?” “What shall he be?” “What then?” “What now?” “What if…?” The king’s mother seems to comfort herself with the last phrase, “What, son of my vows?” She reminds herself that it was God who gave her the promise. It was God who gave her the strength to bring the promise to birth. The same God who answered her prayers for a child will also guide, direct, correct, and redeem. He will do the same for us. Maybe your answered prayer is a life calling, a dream, or a vision that was birthed.
Are you living your life in reverse by living in regret of bad decisions or mistakes concerning that to which you gave birth?
Can not the divine life-giver fix our mistakes, even when our promise was affected? He must become the God of that which he promised. It is his.
Can He not make all things right?
What are some “whats” you need to relinquish to God?
Journal your responses
2 O my son, O son of my womb,
O son of my vows,
The Amplified Bible says it like this, “What, my son? What, son of my womb? What [shall I advise you], son of my vows and dedication to God?” The repetition of the word “what” amply describes the weightiness a mother feels when faced with the responsibility of another human life. “What shall I do?” “What shall I say?” “What if I make a mistake?” “What shall he be?” “What then?” “What now?” “What if…?” The king’s mother seems to comfort herself with the last phrase, “What, son of my vows?” She reminds herself that it was God who gave her the promise. It was God who gave her the strength to bring the promise to birth. The same God who answered her prayers for a child will also guide, direct, correct, and redeem. He will do the same for us. Maybe your answered prayer is a life calling, a dream, or a vision that was birthed.
Are you living your life in reverse by living in regret of bad decisions or mistakes concerning that to which you gave birth?
Can not the divine life-giver fix our mistakes, even when our promise was affected? He must become the God of that which he promised. It is his.
Can He not make all things right?
What are some “whats” you need to relinquish to God?
Journal your responses
Saturday, January 1, 2011
What's your message?
Happy New Year Ladies! May this be the year that we go deeper in God, deeper in His Word, deeper in love with Him! Let's start together on Tuesday, Jan. 4th. I'll be praying for you.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
1 “The sayings of King Lemuel contain this message, which his mother taught him.”
Recently I facilitated a ladies’ Bible study on Proverbs 31. I asked them to use some of their own reference material to research this verse to determine the identity of King Lemuel and his mother. We were rather surprised to find that many references cited Solomon and his mother, Bathsheba as the characters referred to in this verse. We were surprised as to the reason we were surprised! We found preconceived prejudices about Bathsheba existed because of her affair with King David. (You can read about this incident in 2 Samuel 11.) Even though David was the king, and holds the responsibility for this action, some commentaries suggest Bathsheba would have known the king was at home in his palace while all the other men were at war. Her dwelling would have been in very close proximity (some say as close as 25 feet) to his since her husband, Uriah, was one of David’s mighty men.
Whether Bathsheba was an accomplice or a victim, the Holy Spirit has given her an influential platform in which to share her words of wisdom.
Why do you think it is difficult to imagine that God would have chosen Bathsheba to introduce this prominent chapter concerning the ideal virtuous woman?
Do you think there are things in your past that could keep God from using you?
Could God want to use you to encourage others in the very thing that could have destroyed you?
Like King Lemuel’s mother, we all are communicating a message, consciously or subconsciously. What message are those around you hearing?
Record your thoughts.
Please share your insights with all of us:) or you can go to the facebook group, "A Great Company" to see the fb comments. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=233014019961
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
1 “The sayings of King Lemuel contain this message, which his mother taught him.”
Recently I facilitated a ladies’ Bible study on Proverbs 31. I asked them to use some of their own reference material to research this verse to determine the identity of King Lemuel and his mother. We were rather surprised to find that many references cited Solomon and his mother, Bathsheba as the characters referred to in this verse. We were surprised as to the reason we were surprised! We found preconceived prejudices about Bathsheba existed because of her affair with King David. (You can read about this incident in 2 Samuel 11.) Even though David was the king, and holds the responsibility for this action, some commentaries suggest Bathsheba would have known the king was at home in his palace while all the other men were at war. Her dwelling would have been in very close proximity (some say as close as 25 feet) to his since her husband, Uriah, was one of David’s mighty men.
Whether Bathsheba was an accomplice or a victim, the Holy Spirit has given her an influential platform in which to share her words of wisdom.
Why do you think it is difficult to imagine that God would have chosen Bathsheba to introduce this prominent chapter concerning the ideal virtuous woman?
Do you think there are things in your past that could keep God from using you?
Could God want to use you to encourage others in the very thing that could have destroyed you?
Like King Lemuel’s mother, we all are communicating a message, consciously or subconsciously. What message are those around you hearing?
Record your thoughts.
Please share your insights with all of us:) or you can go to the facebook group, "A Great Company" to see the fb comments. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=233014019961
Friday, December 31, 2010
Introduction to Proverbs 31
Proverbs 31
Living Unafraid
Proverbs 31: 21 says, “She is not afraid of the snow for her household: all her household are clothed with scarlet.” She is not afraid of the harshness of winter, along with its hardships. In the Middle East, the place of this writing, snow was uncommon and could be disastrous for those unprepared. The woman of Proverbs 31 did not fear unforeseen adversity considering she had prepared by covering her household with scarlet. In scripture, scarlet symbolizes the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus that cleanses from sin. We can face the future prepared and unafraid with the covering of Jesus’ blood.
This passage gives in detail the expression of the woman who is wise in all her dealings and who has laid the foundation for all wisdom… receiving Wisdom in the person of Jesus. See Proverbs chapter eight.
We could make the case, then, that the expressions of the woman in Proverbs 31 sufficiently emulate Christ concerning a woman’s responsibilities. So, we could pull that old overused and misused euphemism, “What would Jesus do?” out of the closet, dust it off and with fresh understanding, enact it, knowing that by doing so, we are assuring, for us and those of our household, a bright future with no fear of the unknown and the what-ifs!
For your study you should know that Proverbs 31 is divided into two parts. Verses one through nine are the prophecies or teachings, of King Lemuel’s mother. There is a dispute as to the identity of King Lemuel. There was no Israelite king named Lemuel. Many scholars think that this king was from another eastern culture. Most scholars seem to think that King Lemuel, which means ‘unto God’, is simply another name for King Solomon.
As far as the translation, for the most part, I will be using the People’s Parallel Edition Bible which is the New Living Translation paralleled with the King James Version. You will also need a journal or notebook to record your thoughts, prayers, and conversations with the Father.
The second part of Proverbs 31 begins with verse 10 and is actually a Hebrew acrostic with the first line of each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Some theologians think these verses are from a different source and different age than the previous verses. But others disagree and believe it to be from the same source. This is a good reason to do a little research yourself and come to you own conclusion!
This devotion, like the last one, “A Great Company: A Prayer Journey through Psalms 68”, is meant to be done in somewhat of the lectio divina style: taking in to ourselves small passages of scripture by first reading over the scripture several times, including an audible reading; then, meditating on the scripture making note of words or questions that the Holy Spirit highlights to you; thirdly, praying the scripture along with the needs this scripture illuminates; lastly, contemplating or reflecting on what you hear with your spiritual ears and also by writing in your journal your thoughts and responses to what you hear. I find that sometimes, I don’t hear the answer immediately. But as I give that question to the Lord and wait, it comes. Sometimes, it will come in a few minutes, in a few days or longer, but it will come. This particular way of communion with God, through His Word and prayer, allows His Word to actually become part of us. It can be compared to eating. We take a bite (read), we savor the taste (meditate), we swallow (pray), and finally we digest (contemplate). Our body then receives all the nutrients available and it becomes an authentic part of us.
Another aspect of this lectio divina style is to devote a certain time of day and a certain place to commune with God. I am suggesting Tuesday morning during the fourth watch which is anytime between three and six a.m. The fourth watch has special scriptural significance. It is said to be the time for divine judgment and deliverance. Jacob’s wrestling with the Angel of the Lord occurred during the fourth watch, Israel was released from Egypt during the fourth watch. It was probably during the fourth watch that Gideon pulled down the altars of idol worship in Judges 6:27. According to Job 38:12, it “bring(s) an end to the night’s wickedness” and during the fourth watch is when Jesus came to his disciples walking on the water to save them from the storm. In fact, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible the root for the word “deep” in Luke 5:4, when Jesus told Peter to “launch out into the deep” can be traced to the root meaning of “very early.”
Another significant reason for this early morning hour is due to an unusual dream I had several years ago. Several months prior to the dream, I felt the Holy Spirit dealing with me to rise up early, before daybreak to be with the Lord. I was hit and miss. One particular morning, I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. I dreamed that I had done just that, turned the alarm off and went back to sleep. In my dream, when I awoke, I was lamenting to my husband about my failure to get up earlier. He responded, “Well, you know what Leonard Ravenhill says, don’t you? ‘What are you doing again speaking to the daylight?’”
When I awoke from the dream, I knew the dream was significant because, first of all, Ravenhill’s comment was not stated in my normal vernacular. Secondly, I knew Ravenhill was a 20th century prophet for prayer and for revival. I sensed the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me something.
“What are you doing again speaking to the daylight?” As women, we are physically made to conceive, contain, carry, and bring forth life. Life, inside us, is formed in darkness (Psalm 139:15). We speak to things that are not yet formed. Even so, in the Spirit realm, we are to speak to things that are yet unseen, things that are yet in the darkness. We need not spend our time complaining, worrying, and lamenting over what is seen in the daylight, let us give ourselves to speaking to the darkness. In Genesis 1: 2, God spoke to the darkness and said, “Let there be light, and there was light.”
We are to speak to the darkness before the daylight is formed.
Therefore, I am suggesting this be a once a week, predawn prayer devotion. I have chosen Tuesdays, anytime during the fourth watch, between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. You will personally choose the amount of time you will devote each Tuesday. Some days you may spend only a few minutes, while other mornings, longer. Try not to be rigid, but fluid. It makes this God journey so much more enjoyable! And just know that every Tuesday morning there are many other women along side you, all part of “A Great Company,” changing their world! I would love to add your name to the enlistment so email me at sandra.saylor@yahoo.com. You can also join “A Great Company” on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=233014019961. Or, www.sandrasaylor.blogspot.com
Living Unafraid
Proverbs 31: 21 says, “She is not afraid of the snow for her household: all her household are clothed with scarlet.” She is not afraid of the harshness of winter, along with its hardships. In the Middle East, the place of this writing, snow was uncommon and could be disastrous for those unprepared. The woman of Proverbs 31 did not fear unforeseen adversity considering she had prepared by covering her household with scarlet. In scripture, scarlet symbolizes the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus that cleanses from sin. We can face the future prepared and unafraid with the covering of Jesus’ blood.
This passage gives in detail the expression of the woman who is wise in all her dealings and who has laid the foundation for all wisdom… receiving Wisdom in the person of Jesus. See Proverbs chapter eight.
We could make the case, then, that the expressions of the woman in Proverbs 31 sufficiently emulate Christ concerning a woman’s responsibilities. So, we could pull that old overused and misused euphemism, “What would Jesus do?” out of the closet, dust it off and with fresh understanding, enact it, knowing that by doing so, we are assuring, for us and those of our household, a bright future with no fear of the unknown and the what-ifs!
For your study you should know that Proverbs 31 is divided into two parts. Verses one through nine are the prophecies or teachings, of King Lemuel’s mother. There is a dispute as to the identity of King Lemuel. There was no Israelite king named Lemuel. Many scholars think that this king was from another eastern culture. Most scholars seem to think that King Lemuel, which means ‘unto God’, is simply another name for King Solomon.
As far as the translation, for the most part, I will be using the People’s Parallel Edition Bible which is the New Living Translation paralleled with the King James Version. You will also need a journal or notebook to record your thoughts, prayers, and conversations with the Father.
The second part of Proverbs 31 begins with verse 10 and is actually a Hebrew acrostic with the first line of each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Some theologians think these verses are from a different source and different age than the previous verses. But others disagree and believe it to be from the same source. This is a good reason to do a little research yourself and come to you own conclusion!
This devotion, like the last one, “A Great Company: A Prayer Journey through Psalms 68”, is meant to be done in somewhat of the lectio divina style: taking in to ourselves small passages of scripture by first reading over the scripture several times, including an audible reading; then, meditating on the scripture making note of words or questions that the Holy Spirit highlights to you; thirdly, praying the scripture along with the needs this scripture illuminates; lastly, contemplating or reflecting on what you hear with your spiritual ears and also by writing in your journal your thoughts and responses to what you hear. I find that sometimes, I don’t hear the answer immediately. But as I give that question to the Lord and wait, it comes. Sometimes, it will come in a few minutes, in a few days or longer, but it will come. This particular way of communion with God, through His Word and prayer, allows His Word to actually become part of us. It can be compared to eating. We take a bite (read), we savor the taste (meditate), we swallow (pray), and finally we digest (contemplate). Our body then receives all the nutrients available and it becomes an authentic part of us.
Another aspect of this lectio divina style is to devote a certain time of day and a certain place to commune with God. I am suggesting Tuesday morning during the fourth watch which is anytime between three and six a.m. The fourth watch has special scriptural significance. It is said to be the time for divine judgment and deliverance. Jacob’s wrestling with the Angel of the Lord occurred during the fourth watch, Israel was released from Egypt during the fourth watch. It was probably during the fourth watch that Gideon pulled down the altars of idol worship in Judges 6:27. According to Job 38:12, it “bring(s) an end to the night’s wickedness” and during the fourth watch is when Jesus came to his disciples walking on the water to save them from the storm. In fact, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible the root for the word “deep” in Luke 5:4, when Jesus told Peter to “launch out into the deep” can be traced to the root meaning of “very early.”
Another significant reason for this early morning hour is due to an unusual dream I had several years ago. Several months prior to the dream, I felt the Holy Spirit dealing with me to rise up early, before daybreak to be with the Lord. I was hit and miss. One particular morning, I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. I dreamed that I had done just that, turned the alarm off and went back to sleep. In my dream, when I awoke, I was lamenting to my husband about my failure to get up earlier. He responded, “Well, you know what Leonard Ravenhill says, don’t you? ‘What are you doing again speaking to the daylight?’”
When I awoke from the dream, I knew the dream was significant because, first of all, Ravenhill’s comment was not stated in my normal vernacular. Secondly, I knew Ravenhill was a 20th century prophet for prayer and for revival. I sensed the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me something.
“What are you doing again speaking to the daylight?” As women, we are physically made to conceive, contain, carry, and bring forth life. Life, inside us, is formed in darkness (Psalm 139:15). We speak to things that are not yet formed. Even so, in the Spirit realm, we are to speak to things that are yet unseen, things that are yet in the darkness. We need not spend our time complaining, worrying, and lamenting over what is seen in the daylight, let us give ourselves to speaking to the darkness. In Genesis 1: 2, God spoke to the darkness and said, “Let there be light, and there was light.”
We are to speak to the darkness before the daylight is formed.
Therefore, I am suggesting this be a once a week, predawn prayer devotion. I have chosen Tuesdays, anytime during the fourth watch, between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. You will personally choose the amount of time you will devote each Tuesday. Some days you may spend only a few minutes, while other mornings, longer. Try not to be rigid, but fluid. It makes this God journey so much more enjoyable! And just know that every Tuesday morning there are many other women along side you, all part of “A Great Company,” changing their world! I would love to add your name to the enlistment so email me at sandra.saylor@yahoo.com. You can also join “A Great Company” on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=233014019961. Or, www.sandrasaylor.blogspot.com
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