The Little Foxes - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

The Little Foxes

Steve Martin

“Catch the foxes for us, yes, the little foxes! They are ruining the vineyards when our vineyards are in bloom!” (Song of Songs 2:15, Complete Jewish Bible)

It’s the little things, right? Those small words or actions that at times we may overlook, allowing them to slide off our back or pushed aside as meaningless, but at other times they hit you with that thought, “Who does she think she is?”, or “You know, he always does that to me, and I am tired of it.”

As a society we have become so easily offended, having thin skin, and thus we let little things get under it. One word or action directed our way, not taken right, can set us off. If something is spoken or done to you one more time, the scale is tipped. Those little foxes have caught us off guard, and we let the offense come.

It has happened to me. It has happened to you. Right?

In the past few days, I got smacked twice by this. Usually, it comes by someone close, and you take the word or action wrong. You may expect these things to occur from others, but when a family or friend’s actions don’t quite line up with your expectations, it strikes and can wound the spirit and soul. And rather than let it go (“Let it go, let it go…”) you react, and most likely strike back.

Sometimes it was never meant as an offense by the other, but because of who you or, how you were raised, or what has happened in the past by another, you take it to heart, and get offended.

We know the devil hates us, or at least we should. We must know that the spirit of offense will attack, looking to stir up trouble and get us off our straight and narrow. At times the little foxes cause no problem, darting back and forth, as we maintain our alertness to their schemes. But at other times they can ruin a day, week, or even longer. We get hit by an offense and it knocks us off course.

Relationships, even the ones that are strong and bullet-proof, are hit by this spirit at any time. If we are caught unaware, the effect of the attack can be long-lasting. If we walk in forgiveness, we can overcome the hit and move on. If we don’t, it may ruin our “sweet wine” of friendship in the vineyard of life. We must not let the foxes, the little ones, get to us. Otherwise, the hit can be the start of a small, downward spiral, possibly ending in broken ties. We must continually be on our guard. The strengthening bonds of our relationships, as we are being knit together in fellowship, must be strong enough to hold off the attacks that come our way.

There is a reason we are told in Scriptures to put on the armor of the Lord which He provides. It is because we need it. It will if worn properly, protect us daily.

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:11-18, NKJV)

Don’t let the little foxes outsmart you. We wise. Be alert. Know that we have a target on our back, as the enemy of our soul seeks to strike and divide us. We must not let that happen.

If you get hit, and most likely you will, be prepared to walk in forgiveness so you can keep moving on. There is too much at stake in our lives and those around us to let the little things stop us from loving and letting His life flow in and through us.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

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Now Think On This #389 - in the year of our Lord 02.01319 – “Little Foxes” – Wednesday, 4:25 am

Sharing Love From Sweden - ACCEPTED AND LOVED BY GOD - Eva Haglund

ACCEPTED AND LOVED BY GOD

Eva Haglund, Sweden

Oct. 3, 2015

In Song of Solomon we can read about a relation between a woman and a man in a marriage but also understand about the relation about the Bridegroom Jesus in a relation to His Bride, the congregation - Body of Christ. We can see how He sees us personally. He loves us much greater than we understand. 

In Song of Solomon 4:9 we read: " You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse. You have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace." We understand when we read this text that we are so loved by God. He is crushed by his love to us, a very strong love. He really cares about us.

In Psalm 139 we can read that God is with us everywhere. He cares every second. He is thinking at us. If I am in the middle of the sea, He is with me. When it is dark in the night, He is there. He is with me. In Psalm 139:5 it is written, "You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me."

I do not need to think that I am left alone because God is with me. He is my Daddy.

In Psalm 139:13 we understand that God saw us already in our mother's womb. We were planned, thought of and created by the God who loves us. We read, "For you formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother's womb." In verse 14 it is written that we are 

"fearfully and wonderfully made."

In Song of Solomon is also written, "You are all fair my love, and there is no spot in you."

I think that this means that we are beautiful in His eyes, His Bride. I believe that it means that we are cleansed in Jesus' blood, and there is no spot. His Bride has "white" clothes.

Jesus is crushed by His love for His Bride. We look fine in His eyes. We make mistakes  but are cleansed by His blood. Sanctification is anything else. Jesus wants us to be free from things but His purpose is love.Through faith in Jesus we are saved. When Jesus loves His Bride, the Body of Christ, it is natural that He wants us have a relationship with the first love to Him - in love with God.

Song of Solomon is a good book showing a relationship between the Bride and Bridegroom. It is a close relation between Jesus and the Bride, that of a personal relation.  It is like the woman who was touched at His feet, crying because of His love. It was not a dry theology but a heart who was touched in the relation to Him. It was like a heart with life. A heart to heart relation. Jesus wants to be our Friend, simple and natural. 

In Song of Solomon is written, " Oh, my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your voice is lovely." Jesus loves when we speak to Him. In Song of Solomon we also see how He looks at His Bride - beautiful words to His Bride and also how the Bride is in love with the Bridegroom. Verses 10-16 begins with "My beloved is white and ruddy, chief among ten thousands."

Jesus wants to speak comfort with the inner voice, secrets and also tell us jokes when we listen. He speaks also to us through His Word, the Bible, which can be our daily Bread. Jesus loves all people and was willing to give all for us in deepest pain.

The cross, Jesus sufferings for us, is like a sermon of His love to us personally. The cross is also like a sermon about God's love, our heavenly Daddy's love to the world, willing to give the most precious He had for us. His Son has opened the way for us to have salvation. We could not do it ourselves but needed a Savior.

In John 3:16 is written, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

God is a God who cares about the world. He has shown us the greatest love. 

1 John 4:8 "God is love."

Sex Belongs to Christians - John Piper

We are not supposed to be embarrassed by the forthright sensuality of sexual love in marriage as the Bible portrays it — sometimes graphically. (Flickr/Creative Commons)

John Piper: Sex Belongs to Christians

9/30/2015 JOHN PIPER  charisma news

In 1 Timothy 4:1-5, Paul confronts certain ascetic false teachers who believed that sex in marriage and eating foods freely were at best for second-class Christianity. Paul called these false teachings demonic.

First, the false teaching, as Paul summarizes it in verses 1-2 and the first part of verse 3:

"Now the Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will depart from the faith and pay attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their consciences seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods."

Then, Paul's response, starting in the middle of verse 3:

"... which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and not to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."

For those who know the truth of the gospel and who revel in the word of God concerning the all-satisfying glory of God, and who pray (Hallowed be your name!) and dedicate everything to God, the sex of marriage and the pleasures of food are made holy—that is, they are set apart from the sinful use of the world and made pure and precious and beautiful by participation in the goodness of God.

Unembarrassed by the Bible

We are not supposed to be embarrassed by the forthright sensuality of sexual love in marriage as the Bible portrays it—sometimes graphically.

"Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. Let her be as the loving deer and pleasant doe; let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love. Why should you, my son, be intoxicated by an immoral woman, and embrace the bosom of a seductress? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his goings" (Prov. 5:18-21).

It is no shame that "a man's ways are before the Lord" as her breasts fill him at all times with delight. This is why God made her that way and him that way. In fact, that this delight in her is "before" the Lord—in the presence of the Lord—points to the truth that all our joy in what God has made is meant to be a delight in God. There is something of His glory in all the glories of the world.

We are not meant to revel in His creation instead of Him or more than in Him but because of Him, and because there is something of Him in all that is good and beautiful. The heavens are telling the glory of God. We are to see it. And worship him. So it is with the breasts of our wives. The breasts are telling the glory of God, the goodness of God, the beauty of God and more. We are to see it. And worship Him.

Let the Song Stun You

The Song of Solomon is in the Bible, among other reasons, to make sure that we take seriously the exquisite physical pleasures between a bride and a groom as a picture of Christ and his church. The point is not that we nullify the physical pleasures of this Song by seeing it as a full-color image of Ephesians 5:22–33. The point is that we let the Song stun us that God would design such a relationship between man and woman — from the beginning — as the image of the covenant-keeping pleasures between Christ and his church.

"Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you" (Song 4:5–7).

"Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus. Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.

"How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine.

"It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth" (Song 7:3–10).

This is part of what Paul had in mind in 1 Timothy 4:3–5, when he said, "God created [food and sex] to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ... It is made holy by the Word of God and prayer." Sex is for "those who believe and know the truth."

The Pleasures of Sex Are for Christians

We might lose sight of this, since Hollywood has ripped the curtains off the sacred marriage bed and turned a luxuriant, holy pleasure into a cheap spectator sport. We might be tempted to think that, since sex is so sinfully misused and is so universally undermining to the all-satisfying beauty of Christ's holiness, maybe we Christians should have nothing to do with it.

Paul says the opposite. It is the world that has stolen what belongs to believers. Sex belongs to Christians. Because sex belongs to God. "God created it to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." If it is used by those who do not believe and know the truth, it is prostituted. They have exchanged the glory of God for images. They have torn sex from its God-appointed place in the orbit of marriage. But they do not know what they are doing. And the price they will pay in this life and the next is incalculable.

The pleasures of sex are meant for believers. They are designed for their greatest expression by the children of God. He saves His richest gifts for his children. And as we enjoy His gift of sex, we say, by our covenant faithfulness to our spouse, that God is greater than sex. And the pleasures of sex are themselves an overflow of God's own goodness. This pleasure is less than what we will know fully in Him at His right hand. And in it, we taste something of His very exquisiteness.

When the preciousness and pleasures of Christ are supreme, all dimensions of sex, including experiencing pleasure, seeking pleasure, giving pleasure, and abstinence from pleasure, will all find their biblical and Christ-exalting expression.

Everything God made is good. Everything is for the sake of worship and love. And this is true both in the feasting and the fasting. In the sexual union and in abstinence. Sex is made for the glory of Christ — for the Christ-exalting glory of covenant-keeping faithfulness in marriage, and for the glory of Christ-exalting chastity in singleness. It is always good. Sex is always an occasion to show that the Giver of sex is better than sex. 

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

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Sharing Love From Sweden - FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS - by Eva Haglund

FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS

by Eva Haglund

God is not a God Who want us to just come and ask things from. He is a person, as He wants us to have a relation with. He is not a boring but a wonderful Friend full of love. It is not boring to get to know God and to have Him as a friend. He is also a God who tells jokes in a relation with Him when we are sensitive to hear. It was He who made laughter.

If we are in a period of loneliness we can learn to know God as our Friend. When David was outside with the sheep he learned to know Him as a friend. He was worshiping Him. David took time with God in a relationship. Sometimes worship is not counted so important but the Bible tell us to sing to God. We see that David was worshiping God. 

We read in Acts that Paul and Silas were worshiping in prison. In Psalm 139:3 it is written, "Let them praise His name with dance." We also need dance in a relation with God. Some think that dance to God is just for some but I think it is for anybody and that it also can be strong spiritually and that we need it. We can see already small children moving in dance to music.  David danced to God and so did Miriam. We can do it, too. Sometimes people do not like it but as David experienced it is good to continue. To worship and dance to Jesus has relationship with God. He is in the centrum. We also need the prophetic songs and dance.

Worship I think feels like giving our hearts to God in a relationship. It  is important. We lift God up and He is in centrum when it is from our hearts to Him. It is also good to sing Scriptures and Jesus is also the Word.

With Jesus it is good to know that He is not just a friend who is with me in prayer in the morning or evening but who is with me in the day whom I can talk and listen to. It is good to take time with Him and to learn to know His voice with the inner voice and try to hear things He wants to say. It is easier to learn to know God when we read the Bible constantly. To learn to know Him is to learn to know a God of love and in this relationship He speaks to us in friendship. 

Artwork by James Nesbit

In Song of Solomon we see that the bridegoom's heart was crushed for the bride by his love. In Song of Solomon 4:9, "You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse. You have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace." We see here the deep love. This is how Jesus looks at us personally and His Bride - the Body of Christ. His heart is crushed for us.   When He looks at us He also sees no spot in us because His blood cleanses us. 

We read in Song of Solomon 4:7 "You are all fair my love. And there is no spot in you." We are  accepted and loved. Jesus as our Friend has so much love for us and He wants to be a close friend. Sometimes thanksgiving is not considered so important but to thank God is not anything unimportant for Him. In Psalm 100:4 we also read "Enter into His courts with thanksgiving."

If we love Jesus we can imagine He gets glad when we thank Him. We have much to thank Him for. He who suffered so much because of His love for us is worthy our thanksgiving. He suffered much more for us than we can understand. If we have suffered much it is just like a drop of the suffering Jesus suffered for us at Calvary. He did it because He loved us. 

If circumstances are difficult we can always have something to thank God for. We can thank Him for the fact that He suffered so much for us. We can simply thank Him for our being able to walk, or see, or eat, or other things. His grace is forever and He always loves us. We can thank Him for different things. Paul worshiped God when he was in prison. The Bible tells us to make sacrifices of praise. In Heb 13:15 it is written "Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruits of lips that openly profess His name."

When we begin to give thanks to God and when we worship God it is also a help. It is a help in trials. In worship we also can sing thanksgiving to God. When Jesus is our Friend we can talk with Him sitting in a sofa or maybe take a walk and when we are alone and eat we can talk with our Friend Jesus.

Jesus is the Word and the Word is then like our bread. Jesus is the Bread of life, as it says in John 6:35. The Word  is also like water in a desert. We need this clean water. We need to spend time with it and with Jesus in prayer. He also wants to speak with the inner voice. It is important to know in a relationship with Jesus that we are so loved by Him.

We can tell Him that we love Him and thank Him for all His sufferings for us at Calvary. 

Sometimes Christians can be so busy doing things for God but do not think it is so important to take time in a relation with God. If He is our Friend then it so natural that we also take time to talk to and listen to our best Friend. As we need time with friends we need time with Him. He is the most wonderful Friend we can have and it is good to learn to know Him more and more and His Kingdom. 

In Isaiah 45 it is written about hidden treasures. We need MORE of God! To learn to know Him is like digging in a golden mine. Jesus is full of love and He is not boring. What a privilege to learn to know Him as a friend! To talk to Him face to  face like Moses in 2 Exodus 33:11, "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend." We can have a meeting with Jesus when we read about the woman at Jesus' feet. She was so crushed by His love. She cried and cried. She received Jesus and her sins were forgiven. Her heart was so touched by His love. She wanted to give Jesus a most precious present - precious perfume expressing her love to her Savior . She also gave her life in Jesus' hand.

I am thinking also about Song of Solomon who shows not a dry , intellectual relation to God. When we also think about a relationship as it can be between bride and bridegoom, but also between Jesus the Bridegoom and his Bride the church, when the heart is touched by God's love and it is a relation with the best friend. In Song of Solomon is written about this relation. In verse 6:3 "I am my beloved`s and my beloved is mine." It is talking about a relation where the heart is touched. It is not a relation when you come to Jesus just when you ask for things.

I believe God's love for us is much bigger than we understand. It is a very strong love. His love reaches higher than the stars. Jesus loves to have a relation with us. In Song of Solomon it is written, "Oh, my doe in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” In Song of Solomon we can see much about a relation not just between a usual bride and bridegoom but about the relation with the first love from the Bride to the Bridegoom – from our hearts to Him. To be in love with our Bridegoom Jesus we can then see how He is crushed by His love for the Bride. In Song of Solomon 4:9, ”You have ravished my heart, my my sister, my spouse, you have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes,with one link of your necklace.”

Artwork by James Nesbit

We find  that the bride is expressing love to the bridegoom. In Song of Solomon 5:10, "My beloved is white and ruddy, chief among ten thousand." She is in love. We can think about the relation to Jesus that we can be in love with Him - the first love from the Bride to the Bridegoom - Jesus our Savior. 

In the book of Ruth we see how Boaz was kind to Ruth and treated her with respect and care when she came as a stranger to a new place looking for a job and watched so she was not badly treated. He also helped her so she got food in Ruth 2:14. When I read this story I think about the heart Jesus has for us. He treats us with love and cares about us. When we read that Boaz cared we can think about how Jesus cares about us in a relation. He showed us the deepest love giving everything for us at Calvary. He loves all people and wants all to receive Him.

In Rev. 3:20 we  read "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." He wants  to become a Friend to people who do not know Him and that all will receive Him. When I read that He wants to come into all and dine with them, I am also thinking about a relationship where we eat with someone to have fellowship with them. 

 Yeshua/Jesus is a wonderful Friend who gave His life for us.

Sharing Love from Sweden - THE LOVE BETWEEN THE BRIDE AND THE BRIDEGROOM - JESUS - Eva Haglund

THE LOVE BETWEEN THE BRIDE AND THE BRIDEGROOM -  JESUS

Sometimes activities are so important in Body of Christ. We need to do things for God, if what we do is according to God's will. But sometimes activities are just a tradition which are not from God's heart. Sometimes activities takes so much time in a congregation, week after week, that the fellowship time with God and seeking His face comes in a second place. The enemy wants to keep Christians from having time with God.

If you have a friend it is good to spend time with that friend. Jesus wants us to do things for Him, but also desires that we spend time with Him. He wants us to be His friend that we talk to and spend time with. In Song of Solomon we can consider the relation of the bride to the bridegroom. Our relationship with Jesus is not just between a usual bride and bridegoom.

We see here that there is a deep relationship, where the bride and the bridegroom love each other. They do not just have shallow conversations. In Song of Solomon 6:2 we read, "I am my beloved`s and my beloved is mine." Here we see that close relationship.

In Song of Solomon 2:14 we understand that Jesus loves to have fellowship with us. I looked at a picture of a white dove one day and thought the bird was very beautiful and got inspired to paint a dove. It is written in this Scripture, "Oh, my dove, in the cleft of the rock. In the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely." Jesus does not want us to be just any face, but He is longing to see our face and hear our voice. He loves us so much; each and everyone personally. 

In Isaiah 62:5 is written about God's love for us, "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you." It means a bridegroom who loves his bride from his heart. Sometimes men treat women bad and look down at them, but in Song of Solomon we see that the bridegroom treats a woman with respect and love and does not look down at her. God also made Eve from a bone close to Adam's heart. She would be close to his heart and show his love for her. He would not rule over her in a hard, wrong way, but was to have a heart of care, giving to her from his heart.

The woman at Jesus' feet had seen Jesus' attitude. He did not look down at her. He did not look at her with a hard attitude. He had a heart of love and compassion to her. There were people who looked down at her and saw her like trash. They thought their sin was less than hers and did not have love for her. This was the attitude the woman had met. But when she met Jesus, His attitude was different. He did not have a hard attitude condemning her. 

The woman at Jesus' feet had seen that Jesus loved her and dared to come to Him. She was touched by His great love for her and she cried at His feet. She cried, thinking of Jesus' great love. She was thinking that her sins were many but was touched by Jesus' forgiveness of her and His love for her. Jesus said that anybody who has been forgiven much will show more love. The man thought he had less sin. Jesus wanted to teach him to be humble. The man came with his own works. The woman did not come with her own works. She was just aware of Jesus' grace who had forgiven all her sins.

She was humble and her heart was deeply touched by Jesus' heart. It was not like "dry bones" in the law but  life in a heart which was deeply touched by Jesus. She felt His love so strong that she just went down crushed at His feet. Before Jesus she felt like nothing in her own strength but just to rely on Jesus' grace and love. She felt so accepted and loved by Jesus, she wanted to give Him anything precious from her heart. She gave him precious oil from her heart to show her love and was glad that He had forgiven  her sins.

The woman had a heart who was touched in tears by the love Jesus gave to her. We can read in Song of Songs about the bride's relation to the bridegoom. Here we see that her heart was touched. It was not a heavy burden, not in the law, but in freedom of love.

The bride expressed her love to the bridegoom in Song of Solomon 5:10, "My beloved is white and ruddy, chief among ten thousand." In the text you can see that the bride loves the bridegoom, from the words she expressed and her desire to have a close relationship. She loves the bridegoom and has met his love in their relationship.

Jesus our bridegoom loves us so much and loves when we have a close relationship in being His friend. Song of Solomons says, "My beloved is mine and I am his."

He loves us so deeply.

Eva Haglund

Sweden

Sharing Love from Sweden by Eva Haglund - WOMEN PRECIOUS FOR GOD

March 12, 2013

Shalom!

I send you a greeting from Stockholm. Here is spring now coming slowly with 10 C+. Love when spring comes and everything wake up outside like new clothes. Will take a walk and pray for  for Sweden today.The nations need prayers.

Shalom and blessings from Stockholm! 

.

WOMEN - PRECIOUS  FOR GOD

For me it it feels important to celebrate the International Women Day to to think about woman and about their situation in the world. For me it feels important to celebrate it also because today many women are bad treated in the world today.

Women are bad treated  in different ways. They are not treated as they have the same value  as men sometimes . There are men who trample on them.  Some men think they are above. Some men are hard on women and force them to do things with a hard heart and with no respect for the woman. 

This is not how God looks at women. In Song of Solomon we can see how a husband ought look at his wife  and not trample at her. For instance, in Song of Solomon we can read that the bridegroom says in chapter 2:2 that his bride is in his eyes like a lily among thorns.

You can also see how God sees a woman in Song on Solomon. He looks at them with love and does not look down at them and think they have less value than a man.

Some congregations do not understand the value of women. God can use women as much as He can use men. God also needs women to preach today. Some leaders do not understand this but this is also how God wants to use women. 

Today we need voices in the world saying things. I think God can use whoever He wants in the Body of Christ to stand up for Him and to do His will and He can use women. Women are precious in God`s eyes. They need to know their value. God loves women. 

A women is like a precious diamond in his hand and he do not want any to trample on this diamond!  In the bible we can read read about in Genesis 29 that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah . She was blind and he looked down on her and did not love her. 

But we can read that God saw this and did not like this and in Genesis 29:31 is written. "When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved he, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren." God do not like when women are bad treated we can see here. God loves the woman as much as He loves men an he want them to be respected and loved by men.

I believe however not in bitterness but in forgiveness if anyone has been bad treated. Jesus said in deepest pain - in a pain we do not understand at the cross - "Father forgive them" In Gal.3 : 28 is the words:  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ."

Here we can read that male and women are one in Christ and then they ought to be treated as this in Body of Christ. They are not always treated so because not all understand this. In Esther we can see that God used a woman to save her people. She was brave and was willing to risk her life to save her people.

She was a brave women and was used great by God. God chose to use a woman to save

all the people and He can also use woman strong today. When men learn to know God they can learn to treat women well because He is love and women are precious for Him.

Isaiah.43:4 it says how God look at woman. "Since you were precious in My sight , you have been honored, And I have loved you."

I think God wants men and women to be one in Christ standing together. And God need women today.

Eva Haglund.

WOMEN ARE LIKE PRECIOUS DIAMONDS IN GOD`S EYES!

Always Loved You - Now Think On This (Steve Martin)

Always Loved You

"My beloved responded and said to me, ' Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along. 'For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land; the time has arrived for pruning the vines,and the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.”
(Song of Songs 2:10-12 NASU)

As she walked down the aisle that cool October evening, my heart increased with skipped beats. The original song I had written for her, using those words from Song of Songs Chapter 2, had been prepared weeks earlier. Now as I tried to sing them, soft and gentle, while playing on the borrowed six string guitar, I got choked up on the second verse. She was so beautiful. And I had waited so long.

When she finished walking the eternal length of the aisle, I had to set my guitar down before I dropped it. This was the moment to soak it all in, as our gaze upon one another filled our souls with passion. Nights of crying out to the Lord had been fulfilled. She had come.

There was a time just two years earlier when I didn’t believe this was going to happen. I had been engaged to another, and it didn’t work out. That one was meant for another. But now this beautiful young woman, whom He knew was the right one, was coming to me. Is it any wonder why I love the Lord so much? Just one look at her, my sweet Laura Jean, is enough.

This really happened, when my awesome bride Laurie entered the church sanctuary and glided to the wedding altar. Her full length, laced pure white gown covered her entire body, while hazel eyes looked at me from under the sheer veil. What could I do, except try to contain my heart from leaping out with joyous ecstasy.

And now decades later, because of His everlasting mercy, grace and provision has sustained us through the thick and thin, the joys and the sorrows, while commitment to the full days of our lives continues to keep us, we both love the Lover of our souls. He has always loved us. He has always loved you.

“I am my beloved's, and His desire is for me.” (Song of Songs 7:10)

You may have come to the place where your soul needs to know His love, of His heart for yours, of His passion and desire for you, His beautiful creation and Bride. Doubts may have arisen from rejection, while forgotten and forsaken relationships have brought you to the point of giving up on your hopes and dreams. That desire for a man who really cares. The longing for that promised wife, or maybe just a little more of living the abundant life?

There is One whose desire for you is never ending. He has sought you in your sleeping hours, in your waking moments, in your hours of grief and despair. He is the One your being longs for.

The lover of your soul knows what price has been paid for you. Yeshua has come. He has suffered the ultimate. He has risen and now lives, so that you can too. For Him to be with you through thick and thin, through joys and sorrows, until the length of your days has been done, and then beyond.

“Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices." (Song of Songs 8:14)

He has come for you. He has always loved you, and He always will.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Love For His People

Founder

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.

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Now Think On This #111 – Always Loved You  Steve Martin 

Date: In the year of our Lord 2014 (02.10.14 Monday at 7:00 am in Charlotte, NC).

All previous editions of my Ahava Love Letters and Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and our messages website: Ahava Love Letters