Happiness from the Alabaster Box / Mrs Reese Fowler

Mrs Reese Fowler

Pastor's Wife

Columbus, OH

 

 

 Happiness from the Alabaster Box

By Reese Fowler

Let’s talk about being happy. When I was a little girl my parents bought me a pink Barbie bicycle for my 8th birthday and that made me happy. Then I became a teenager, and my parents gave me some money.  I went to the mall with my friends and bought a new dress and that made me happy. When I got married my husband and I bought a house and that made me happy. Then we had kids and that made me happy. On and on things were making me happy, but I learned over time that all these things brought me temporary happiness.

There is nothing in this world that can bring you joy or happiness. Your happiness shouldn’t be based on things.

 I believe that a Christian’s happiness is based on their relationship with Jesus Christ and totally surrendering their entire being everyday to God.

I came across these Bible verses a few months ago and realized what God was trying to teach me from the alabaster box. 

Mark 14:3-6  And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious, and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of ointment made? For it might have been sold for more

than 300 pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone, why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. 

Lessons learned:

1. Jewish parents will give their daughter an alabaster box filled with spikenard oil when she comes of age. Then when she is married and becomes a bride, she will bring her alabaster box as her dowry (her families’ worth/value) on the night of her consummation/honeymoon. She pours it out on her husband’s feet. This symbolizes complete devotion, submission, and obedience to her husband. 

The lady in the Bible broke the box so that it couldn’t ever be used for anyone or anything else. It symbolized her complete love and devotion to Jesus. We need to offer ourselves and be completely broken to God every day.

2.  A hand carved alabaster box filled with spikenard oil can cost anywhere from $300-$3000.

We are of great value to God!

3. Alabaster is a mineral/rock made up of fine grained gypsum. It is mostly made of white marble which represented purity. The more expensive alabaster boxes

can be set in a window sill and the light will shine through it. 

When we become a child of God, He washes our sins away and makes us white as snow. We can also let God’s Light shine through us.

So what does the alabaster box have to do with being happy? Everything!

When we give Jesus all of us, total surrender, then we can only be one way, Happy!

Dear Father,

Today, I choose to be happy. Right now, I offer my alabaster box to You. I break myself open and surrender all of me. You say that I’m precious in Your sight, so I pour out my precious oil to You. Please take all of me, my stubbornness, my selfishness, my goals, my attitude. Please take all of me. I am Yours. Please control my words and actions. Help me to be a servant to others and exemplify You in everything I do. Amen

Let It Go! / Mrs Alicemarie Johnon

 

Mrs Alicemarie Johnson

Pastor's Wife

River Lake Baptist Church

Waverly, TN

 



 

Let it Go!

Let it go!!!  I know, I know; now some of you have that song in your head!  No, that is not what I am referring to here today!  We often hold on to things that we should not; things that will hold us back in life.  Often, our circumstances can become difficult, and we struggle to understand.  Perhaps someone has hurt us, and we want to become angry and bitter.  Perhaps an illness or a financial problem has loomed large in your life.  I have really struggled with some of this myself lately.  I have felt hurt, anger, disillusionment; but I also know that these things are poison to the victorious life God wants me to have.

Let it go—hurt, anger, bitterness.  “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice.”  Ephesians 4:31.  When we hold a grudge, we only harm ourselves.  Anger is an acid that eats away at our joy.  Bitterness binds us in chains; our freedom is to let it go! 

Let it go—frustration with the things that come in our lives out of our control.  I have questioned “Why?” in my life many times; then God reminds me in Proverbs 3:5 & 6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.”  When I let go of my own reasoning, and trust God and His will, then I can have peace in my struggles.   It is hard to trust, but when I do, God gives strength and peace to keep enduring.  

I know so many of us are going through difficult times.  Hold fast to the promises God gives us in His Word.  Hold fast to Romans 6:28: “And we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  

Has someone hurt you?  Let it go!  God will handle the situation. 

Don't I Have Any Rights Around Here? / Mrs Eileen Abberger

 

Mrs Eileen Abberger

Pastor's Wife

Lakeview Baptist Church

Lakeview, MI

 

 

 

 

Don't I Have Any Rights Around Here?

I like pretty things. I surround myself with as much prettiness (is that a word?) as I can! 

My husband has given me great liberty to decorate and paint my home any way I choose!  I'm grateful and I try hard not to "girlie" it up too much!!!

The ladies at our church gave me a BEAUTIFUL geranium arrangement. It is artificial but it looks REAL; really real!  I had it proudly displayed on my dining room table.

My husband works from home from time to time. He chooses to sit at the dining room table!  As he would "bump" my flower arrangement, it would tip over onto whatever he was working. After a while he said, "Can you move this somewhere else?" I would respond, "It looks so pretty on that table, and besides our ladies bought this for me!"  This scenario went on (sad to say) for a few weeks. Finally, he became exasperated and said, "Can't you find somewhere else for this?  Don't I have any rights around here?"  I seized the moment!  I answered, "Yes, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you!!!"  We both laughed, and I moved the flowers to another table.

Romans 12:10 says, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly kindness:  in honor preferring one another."

Life offers us endless opportunities to become divided. We are different. He is very practical and logical. I am very emotional; oh, did I say emotional! Yup!  But God intended that our differences bring peace and order to our relationship. The way in which we accomplish this goal is through honoring and preferring one another. To honour my husband means to respect him, to place great value on him. It means to highly esteem him. We will always be different, but we must learn to be considerate of our differences. God made us to compliment each other's differences, not hurt each other.

Understanding each other is one of the keys to a good marriage. Good understanding requires listening and transparency.  

James 3:18 says, "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue:  and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."

How can I honor my husband?  How can I show him the value which I find in him?  How can I prefer him?  I will esteem him as I guide my thoughts and my words in a path that is guided by wisdom and unselfishness:  James 3:17 tells us that the wisdom that comes from God is:

1) Pure - clean and transparent
2) Peaceable - harmonious, absent of strife and defensiveness
3) Gentle - the ability to recognize when our mate is weak or frustrated
4) Full of Mercy - ready to forgive; without grudge holding
5) Good Fruit - Healing and for the benefit of others
6) Without Partiality- Arousing uncertainty (moving the flower arrangement before he's frustrated)
7) Without Hypocrisy - having a different measuring stick for yourself than you do for your husband.


Good marriages are not an accident. If we want a good marriage, we must intentionally work on it every day.  I love my husband. He is the greatest gift I've been given apart from my salvation.  It will only continue to be that way to the degree I esteem, honour and love him!  Let's get busy preferring one another!

Carpe Diem – Seize the Day! / Mrs Karen Caviness

 

Mrs Karen Caviness

Pastor's Wife

Victory Baptist Church

Roseburg, OR

 

 





Carpe Diem – Seize the Day!

I recently had yet another birthday. It seems like the older I get, the faster time flies by. It’s hard to believe that 2015 is now halfway gone. It should be our desire to make every day count. We shouldn’t squander away the precious time God has given us. He tells us in His word to “redeem the time”.
 Eph. 5:16  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
 Col. 4:5      Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Instead of just floating through each day with a “Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be” attitude; we need to start each morning determined to seize the day! To do so, we need to:

1.  Rejoice in the day – Psalm 118:24  This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will     rejoice and be glad in it.
 Do you let the circumstances of each day dictate whether or not you will have a good day? Sometimes we start our day off frustrated and in a foul spirit because we are having a bad hair day. Do you really want something as silly as the protein growing out of your head to control what kind of day you are going to have? But it may be something much more serious that is trying to steal your joy: a serious illness, a broken heart or some other storm of life that you are facing. 
 To rejoice in the day we need to realize, first of all, it could be worse. Our trials seem so huge until we put them in prospective. I had a friend who was gloomy because her first child had left for Bible college and she would not see her for several months. I told her of another friend who just shared with me her broken heart over her daughter who has turned her back on God and is living in rebellion and sin with her lesbian partner. Suddenly she was thankful for her situation instead of gloomy. The familiar phrase, “I complained because I had no shoes, then I met a man that had no feet,” is a good reminder of this truth.
 Secondly, if we are going to rejoice in the day we need to remember - God sees the big picture. We can’t always see the reasons why God allows things to happen in our day. We just need to trust Him and rest in the knowledge that He knows what we need and what is best for us. After 911 I read of several different employees at the twin towers that were late for work that day because of frustrating circumstances. One person had a flat on the way to work, a lady could not find her keys, a man wore a new pair of shoes that day that rubbed a blister on his foot and he had to stop and buy band-aids. In each case the person’s life was saved because of the frustrating, delaying circumstance. We won’t know until heaven how many times God’s hand of protection has been on us and we were frustrated and grumbling over the very circumstances used to protect us.

2.  Prioritize the day – I Cor. 14:40  Let all things be done decently and in order.
 If we do not prioritize the day then we seem to do those things that are screaming at us to get done or that our flesh enjoys doing. This results in coming to the end of the day and
realizing that the laundry may be done and the dishes are clean but no time was spent with your children teaching and training them. You had no time to connect with your husband today. Or perhaps it is late and you are just too sleepy to have any time in your Bible and prayer now, but you did spend an hour on Facebook and who know’s how long on Pinterest. 
 Matt. 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
 The order of our life should be: God, family, ministry, occupation, recreation. Too many times that order gets totally flipped around. You may say, “But I am a faithful Christian busy serving the Lord.” If we aren’t careful we can even get out of order in our service. We become a Martha and neglect our Mary time sitting at the feet of Jesus. It doesn’t matter how many hours we pour into ministry, if we are not building a strong relationship with our own children and taking the necessary time to train them then we are out of order. Make sure to keep each day in priority.

Redeem the time. Make each day count. Seize the day!

Bees / Mrs Charissa Andrews

 

Mrs Charissa Andrews

Pastor's Wife

Amazing Grace Baptist Church

O'Fallon, MO

 

Bees

 

I've never really been a fan of bees. I really grew to have a strong repugnance for the little creatures after a scary encounter. My son was 9 at the time and my sister was watching my little guys for me. When I arrived home, I noticed that Daniel's face looked a little different. I couldn't really put my finger on what it was, it just looked different. I thought maybe one of his brothers had boxed him a bit, or he had run into something. I questioned him and he had no recollection of anything like that happening. It wasn't long before his lips began to swell. I started really questioning him and he then told me that right before I arrived home he had been stung by a bee, but no where near his face, only on his finger. I knew what I was looking at: anaphylactic reaction. I grabbed the Benedryl and Daniel and rushed to the hospital. On the way his tongue began to swell. The initial dose of Benedryl had calmed down the swelling quite a bit by the time we arrived at the emergency room. We got checked in and they had us in a triage room. Doing the blood pressure, weight, etc. All of a sudden the male nurse that was talking to us grabbed Daniel and took off down the hall yelling. I ran after him I watched as several nurses and doctors got him hooked up to an IV very quickly. The reaction came back, with a vengeance. Talk about scary! When I read an article after this experience that warned of a bee shortage, I almost got giddy. Yay!! Bees...be gone I say. However the article went on to explain the importance of bees. According to Business Insider, “a world without bees would also mean a world without fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds”.  Nearly one third of our world's crops are dependent on bees. One third. I began to think bees play a very important role in our lives.  There are another type of “bees” that also are vital to us. Our crops don't depend on them, but something even more important. Our christian walk depends on these “be's”. These are the “be's” of the Bible. There are so very many and I won't list them all. But I'd like to list some of my favorites. These are the “be's” God has given us because He loves us. They teach us how to love right, how to live right, how to serve right, how to honor Him with our lives.

These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but BE of good cheer; I have overcome the world. -John16:33
Satan is such a liar, and he is superb at his job. One of his most used tools on God's children is the tool of discouragement. But our Savior says, “Be of good cheer!!”

BE ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. -Luke 6:36
Mercy is defined as: compassionate or kindly, forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence. How are we doing with this be? God is not telling us to just be merciful, but He is saying we are to be merciful just as He has been merciful. I don't know about you, but He has sure extended a monumental amount of mercy to this girl! And He asks me to be as merciful to my offenders and enemies.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and BE ye thankful -Colossians 3:15
Ladies, when we learn to truly be thankful (for everything) something amazing will happen. The peace of God will rule in our hearts. The circumstances will no longer dictate if we are having an up day or a down day. Can the peace of God rule in my heart when I receive an unexpected medical bill or when I face heartache? What about when my husband takes a pay cut or one of my children begin to show a rebellious spirit? Can God's peace control and rule in my heart when things don't make sense? Nope...absolutely not. Not unless I learn to be thankful in those things. I think this one is such a biggie because the thankfulness can only result from trust. The only way I can thank God for the second child being diagnosed with epilepsy is if I completely believe that God loves me, that He is good and that He is trustworthy.

BE strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee nor forsake thee.
- Deuteronomy 31:6
This is one of my all time favorite be in the Bible. The “cause” of this verse is “for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee nor forsake thee” and the effect of this verse is we can “BE strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid...” There are many things we fear, especially in today's society. Some of us fear that our children will be sick. Some of us fear being able to have finances that will meet the need. Some fear because of a lack of insurance. Some fear getting close to others because of past hurts. Some fear taking a stand due to criticism. Some fear losing their homes or jobs. Some fear the presidential elections and where our country is heading. However God admonishes His children to not fear these things, but to be very courageous. Fear paralyzes us, it prevents us from going forward, from advancing. It stops us in our tracks. Let's not forget that the very One who parted the Red Sea...He goes with us. The God who called Lazarus from the grave...He goes with us. His promises are true. “...he will not fail thee nor forsake thee”.

Therefore BE ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh
-Matthew 24:44
The last be I'll share with you today. Now, I know where I am. I know who I'm writing to; a bunch of amazing ladies. Ladies that love the Lord. Ladies that are pastor's wives, deacon's wives. Ladies that have been in church longer than I've been on this earth. My sweet friends, He is coming back. Soon. I believe so very soon!! I urge you to make sure you are ready. Don't allow anyone or anything to stand in the way of this most important matter. He is coming soon to snatch His bride. Not only should we be ready in the area of salvation (trusting completely, entirely and ONLY in the finished work of Christ on the cross), but we should be preparing to meet our Heavenly Groom. Remember all of the preparation you made to face your groom? The time and energy and investment you made for that day when you would face him as his bride. Let us give ourselves, our energy and investment in anticipation of meeting our Groom.

Are You God's Delight?? / Mrs Marcella Smith

 

 

Mrs Marcella Smith

Pastor's Wife

Sandy Valley Baptist Temple

Magnolia, OH

 

 

Are you God’s Delight? Are you delightful to God? Are you delightful to God daily?

Proverbs 8:30 …and I was daily his delight… 
Yes, I understand that this verse is talking about wisdom, but don’t you think that if wisdom can daily delight Him, we can too? God made us for His pleasure.

Delight is defined as:  enjoyment, pleasure, to incline to, to be pleased with, desire, favor

So are you delightful or are you…
Upset because you HAVE to serve God? You know…working in the nursery, visiting those bus routes, soulwinning in the middle of your Saturday, teaching SS every week, cleaning up the church (no one else seems to want to), making food for the funeral meals or shut ins… and the list could go on for some of you, I’m sure.

Are you delightful or are you…
 Angry because of some hurt in your life?  Things like broken relationships, a long -term illness, the death of a loved one, people who are always offending you or getting offended by every little thing you say…these things hurt us to be sure, but being angry is not the answer.

Are you delightful or are you…
 Too busy complaining about your life or life in general? You seem to never have as much money as so and so, your job is such a pain (they should really give you a huge raise for all you have to put up with), your bills are so unfair (your neighbors bills are so much less and they have a bigger house), your kids drive you crazy and just wont be well-behaved like your friends kids…

To be a delight… We must THINK and REMEMBER God’s blessing in our lives! This will enable us to: be grateful for what we do have, love and enjoy serving our Jesus, get over life’s many hurts, deal with sickness, and serve joyfully.

How can we accomplish this? 
1. Read about God’s blessing in the past in your Bible. Several chapters talk about how God took care of the Israelites many times over. (PSALM 107) That would be a good place to start.
2. Realize that God STILL blesses today! Think about blessings and look for them in other’s lives. (Sometimes it is easier to see how others are being blessed)
3. Revisit how God has blessed YOU in the past. I have so many examples of this, but one that has been recent is a funeral meal at our church. It was for folks we didn’t even know and had no idea how many folks to expect. So our church folks prepared in abundance…guess who received the delicious, abundant leftovers? We did! It certainly helped with my grocery bill. We ate for days. I want my children to notice God’s many blessings so I usually use sarcasm to make it funny… as in, when God’s blessing is so very obvious and we are lavishly spoiled, I turn to my kids and say “Oh my, It’s so haaaaard to serve Jesus. We are just suffering sooooooo much. (in the whiniest voice I can muster) They giggle and agree…God is so very good to us.  We have no reason to complain. Sure we put in long hours, (my kids included) do many things above and beyond, stay up late, etc. However, God’s goodness is so apparent that we could never say “we are suffering for Jesus”. There would be no truth to that. 

Psalms 107: 8,15,21,31 Four verses in the Bible that say exactly the same thing; “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” 
God wants praise, enough to tell us in the exact same words 4x. God gets delight through our praise. Are you delightful to God? Do you praise Him daily?

Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

My practical nature came to the rescue to help me with this problem of not praising God or being delightful to Him.

A BLESSING BOOK- a journal of sorts that you jot your blessings and answered prayers down in.  I choose to head the top of the blank, lined paper by each month. Then I simply use the lines to record God’s goodness. I usually put the item received and who gave it to us. For baptisms and salvations I write the person’s name and the date.  I read through this book when I am feeling down. It reminds me of God’s love and care for me.

Look for God’s blessings in the lives of those in the Bible so you can follow that principle and keep getting blessed, and then when He does bless, don’t forget to write it down.

Look for blessings in your daily life. You have to train yourself to think this way. We do not naturally see the good around us.

Ladies, we do not need to be sad, broken, depressed Christians. Look at how God has blessed and is blessing and you cannot help but smile. Sometimes we smile through our tears, but we can smile none the less.  We can serve Jesus and have true joy. 

If you are going through a difficult time in the ministry, step back and take time to get your joy back. Ask God for it. I have been there and never wish to go back. I don’t want to dread church. I don’t want to hate serving Jesus. I don’t want my children to run from the ministry. So, I have a blessing book and that helps me to focus on all the good that I do have!!!  I can smile now while serving, because I have true joy!!! I love being a Preacher’s wife. I don’t want to be anything else. As I sit at the piano and start the prelude music, I can’t help but hold back tears of joy because of the sweet peace and joy that comes from knowing that I am doing exactly what God wants me to do.

We don’t HAVE to serve Jesus, We GET to serve Jesus!!! 
(Oh, and it’s sooooo hard. Wink-wink)

 

 

The Vital Ingredient / Mrs Heather Sexton

Mrs Heather Sexton

Pastor's Wife

LaMarsh Baptist Church

Mapleton, IL

 

 

The Vital Ingredient

 

Cooking has never come naturally for me.  You know some ladies that throw a few things in a pot, and "Oh!!!  does it taste delicious!"  Other ladies, their food not only tastes good, but it looks like it came out of a magazine!!!  I hate to say that is NOT me.  When we first got married I prayed over the meal before I brought it to the table asking God to help it taste good :).  My cooking techniques have improved since we first got married, but still from time to time I will forget to put in a main ingredient.  Lately I have been studying the subject of Faith.  Faith is a vital ingredient in our Christian life!  The Bible says in Romans 14:23, ".... for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." And also in Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him;  for he that cometh to God must believe is, and that he is a rewarded of them that diligently seek him."  Faith is Essential!!!

Are you praying with faith believing that He hears and will answer.  Lately when I pray I quote verses about the power of prayer.  I once heard the quote, "God never gave His children a promise which He does not intend for them to use."  Don't stop praying even though you have prayed the same prayers for years.  Believe that, "He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think...."  Ephesians 3:20

Faith is the Victory!!!  1 John 5:4, "...and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith." "Little faith will bring your soul to Heaven, great faith will bring Heaven to your soul."