MY SISTER'S KEEPER

One Strategy God has given us to defeat the evil one is for us sisters to stand with each other and look out for one another. If you are not involved with the Women’s Ministry in your local Church get plugged in to the women’s ministry in your local church because God is setting you up. This is the season to tap into what God is doing and He is doing it through our sisters: natural and spiritual. I will share some scriptures to illustrate to you why you need to cultivate your relationships with other women younger, older, married or single, work colleagues, Zumba fitness partners, baby daddy’s sisters... any woman…its not the season to compete with your fellow sister but the season to complete and complement one another.

A lots of teaching has been done on Ruth and Boaz but today I want to hone in on Naomi’s unique relationship with Ruth. I believe Ruth had tapped in to what God was doing in Naomi’s life and had watched her mother-in-law pray and even worshipped along with her, The Amplified version says that Ruth clung to Naomi when the time came for her to say goodbye. Naomi must have won Ruth over through the way she lived and the way she treated her daughters in-law, I like to believe and picture Naomi speaking wisdom to the two daughters who must have hung on every word she had to say and so Ruth realized that Naomi was carrying something inside of her and what Naomi was carrying was crucial for Ruth’s destiny. Maybe the older lady you just started speaking to lately seems not share your shoe fetish and your taste in music, appears not to have anything in common with you, but that very woman could be the woman that God has anointed to intercede for your breakthrough this season and maybe that old widow next door has the word of wisdom to propel you to your destiny. May God open the eyes of our understanding that we may see the Naomi’s he has placed in our paths this season, may we embrace them and cling on to them like Ruth for destiny’s sake!!!!

So Ruth clings to Naomi and leaves her comfort zone, her young friends and her entire family and her home country and goes to a foreign land. Spiritually Ruth was holding on to the link to her destiny and was prepared to forsake all in pursuit of this. When they get to Israel Ruth continues on her journey to destiny, she is accountable to Naomi and updates her on what has transpired in the field and carefully heeds every instruction that Naomi gives her. You see if Naomi had not been there we would not have been talking about this marriage that produced our Lord Jesus’ ancestry. Naomi is the one who had the scoop/info here sisters, she reveals to Ruth who the man who was checking her out and has shown interest is, Naomi further goes on to tell Ruth to go wash and perfume herself and where to find this baller (lol man of wealth) at the threshing floor at midnight!!! Spiritually the he threshing floor is symbolic of a place where we deal with our flesh or sinful nature. It is a place where the chaff gets separated from the wheat. It is here we pray and cry out to the Lord for help or where we repent and determine to get victory over the sinful nature…and so that means the place of prayer is where Boaz or whatever breakthrough you need and its at midnight so make time to wake up and pray!!! So Naomi’s push us to seek God’s face more and helps us build a strong prayer and fasting life so that we are in a position to receive God’s promises. 

This is the season to intentionally cultivate our relationships with other women, you are someone’s Naomi so avail yourself and be more approachable don’t be stingy with the info hey, share everything you know that the Ruth needs to know from you and then even if you are someone’s Naomi you still need a Naomi for yourself so listen to the Holy Spirit and swallow your pride and cling on to her yeah , send her a Facebook message, whatapp her, sms her /Skype call, do what you need to do coz she’s got something of yours and you need to get a hold of it to get to your promise!!! And note it doesn’t need to be all about the spiritual maybe she has info on a scholarship available for the Master’s degree you have being dying to do but had no funds to do I mean pick up the phone and call your Naomi and your Ruth up today!!!!!

Another Story to illustrate how we need each other, God gives Deborah a prophet (who was ruling Israel as a judge, was a mother and a wife to Lappidoth) a word that Israel would defeat their enemies so she calls Colonel Barak (not Obama and you are right they didnt have titles in the army back then) and asks him to get the troops ready and he insists he can’t go to fight the battle unless Deborah comes along with him. To cut a long story short they go to battle and the credit all goes to Deborah but behind the scenes there is a woman who is never really preached about who tapped into what Deborah was doing and helped Deborah and Barak win the battle because you see Deborah and Barak had won the battle but the King of the opponent army was not yet dead so the prophecy was not yet fulfilled. So Jael , a housewife doesn’t opt not to get involved in Deborah’s war as most of us would do, but she entertains the enermy King Sisera and gives him warm milk coz that’s what makes people sleepy and drives a nail through his head thereby ensuring victory for her sister Deborah who goes on to get the credit!!! How about helping another sister wage a good warfare according to the prophecies spoken over her life by standing in prayer with her, yes she may not give you the credit but so what if God’s name is being glorified and a prophecy has come to pass, and maybe she got the husband you helped pray for but you are still single…if you have the scoop on what she needs to do to get the break through make time for her!!!.

God is a relational God who accomplishes things through our relationships, lets looks out for another, Esther would not have been chosen queen if she had not gottten inside information on what the King liked from her relationship with Hegai, Joseph made it to the palace because the butler/wine bearer told the king about his ability to interpret dreams, even Mary went to her older pregnant cousin Elizabeth when she was carrying the Messiah … I could go on ladies but you’ve got my point lets be our sister’s keeper and see God connect the dots as our destinies unfold…. I am really excited and enjoying and benefitting from some Naomi’s that I would have never imagined myself hanging out with...like seriously!!!!!! So ….lets do this.

THE TRUTH ABOUT UNDEFINED RELATIONSHIPS THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

 I have been a single saved sister in the church for more than a decade and one scenario of heartbreak that I have seen wreck the hearts of many single women in the church is when they entangle themselves in an undefined relationship with a guy who has not made it official. I am talking about that scenario where a guy gets your number, starts calling and watsapping you. He picks you up and drops you off whenever you need transport, You are inseparable and most of your spare time is spent in this guy's company..You guys even pray together and share your dreams and visions and cannot go a day being apart from each other but he has not made it official. He even calls you pet names and maybe you have even met all his friends and family BUT he has not made his intentions known and so you have started making excuses for him that he is scared and he wants to be sure in the mean time since this non-commiter guy is always hogging your attention the guy who is really into you cannot even access you becoz you are engrossed in trying to get the non-committer to commit !!!! Does the scenario sound familiar to anyone? I used to think I was the only one who kept experiencing this until I read a Christian book by John and Stasi Elderidge entitled 'Captivating' who write “There is an emotional promiscuity we’ve noticed among many good young men and women. The young man understands something of the journey of the heart. He wants to talk, to “share the journey.” The woman is grateful to be pursued, she opens up. They share the intimacies of their lives - their wounds, their walks with God. But he never commits. He enjoys her... then leaves. And she wonders, What did I do wrong? She failed to see his passivity. He really did not ever commit or offer assurances that he would"

The long and the short of it is that undefined relationships may seem to be good and even look promising and yet the reality is the guy is just not into you but using you to pacify his emotional needs without necessarily committing to you...The end result is even though you may not have a sexual relationship you develop soul ties from spending too much time and sharing all your business and sharing too much . And then when the brother finds the woman he wants He will not delay in making his intentions known to the other woman and drop you immediately. I know the Ugly because it happened to me countless times and yet I did not heed the warnings that God gave me through friends.I made excuses ..I made myself available to someone who just wanted to pacify their loneliness and when they met their woman of their dreams I was left in the cold, dejected, humiliated and stripped of all the little self esteem I had and yet he had never defined the relationship and could argue and say "but I never told you or promised anything" so...to cut a long story short while I was in that valley of pain and tears from the disappointment the devil send Mr.Wrong who was not even saved into my life at that moment of dejection and the result was I became an unwed mother.....all because I allowed someone to play around with my feelings and opened my heart to someone who did not do the same....and the downward spiral began and I dated down on the rebound.

If there are any sisters in this type of a scenario I believe you have a right to ask what the guy wants from you and what exactly you are to him. If he is hogging your attention and calling etc for quite a while you better ask him. One things I have learned from most of my guy friends/brothers now is that guys always know even within the first month or so of meeting a girl whether or not they are going to pursue a relationship.What I am saying is place a high value on yourself as a woman standing on the Word of God, be accessible but not too available... dont devote all your spare time on someone who has not made their intentions known and dont play wife, by play wife I dont just mean sleeping with him, don't be cooking, doing laundry, and dont play partner and confidante to someone who has not committed I mean your DSTV doesnt let you watch more channels than you subscribe for so why give him special treatmeant if he hasnt committed to you? Treat him like any other brother in the church or in the office until he makes it official. Let the man earn the right to hog your time, to call you and share the journey of life with you first before giving him access to your heart. A friend has been sharing something so profound and I thought that it was profound... she says stop selling yourself short ..up your shareprice ..sistergirl, you are blue chip he cant just call u everytime he feels bored or low , call you at ungodly hours and disrupt your beauty sleep when he has not stated his intentions no, no, no...

I will close off with another quote from the book "Captivating" (which I highly recommend) by John and Stasi Elderidge who wrote that "Be careful you do not offer too much of yourself to a man until you have good, solid evidence that he is a strong man willing to commit. Look at his track record with other women. Is there anything to be concerned about there? If so, bring it up. Also, does he have any close male friends - and what are they like as men? Can he hold down a job? Is he walking with God in a real and intimate way? Is he facing the wounds of his own life, and is he also demonstrating a desire to repent of Adam’s passivity and/or violence? Is he headed somewhere with his life? A lot of questions, but your heart is a treasure, and we want you to offer it only to a man who is worthy and ready to handle it well.”

Proverbs 4:23 Amplified "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life."

Proverbs 4;23 New Living Translation "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."