In Praise of Godly Women, Part 1 (cont'd)

Thank God for women with strong family values.

I want you to note here in Proverbs 31 the strong family values of this godly woman look at several verses with a verses 11 and 12 says her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. We live in a culture that encourages us to pursue our goals, our dreams, our plans, but what if we placed our highest priority on God's plans hello and thanks for being here for today's destined for victory message with pastor Paul Shepherd, senior pastor at destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California, godly women put their highest value on God's word and shall see today.

He offers plenty of guidance in the area of marriage and family, much of it runs counter to our cultural trends, but women of God. Don't cater to the culture they want by the word stay with us now or visit pastor Paul.net to listen to any recent broadcast on demand, including today's message in praise of godly women is pastor Paul godly women have learned can be against us. And that according to verse 35. Nothing can separate them from the love of Christ not trouble not hardship, not persecution, not nakedness dangerous sort those things. Romans eight tells us, can separate us from the love of Christ, then a few verses down from there. It tells you that you are more than conquerors through him who loved us and I would be good enough to be a conqueror but we are told our identity in Christ is, we are more than conquerors and godly women have learned to accept that as truth and to drawl on the strength of their identity in Christ and based on that identity than they know what their ability is in Christ that they can in fact do all things. As Paul said in Philippians 413 I can do everything they need to do through Christ who gives them strength. Thank God for women of nobility strength and power.

And then secondly thank God for women with strong family values.

I want you to note here in Proverbs 31 the strong family values of this godly woman look at several verses with me verses 11 and 12 says her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good not harm, all the days of her life.

Verse 15 suggests that while it is still dark.

She provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

This is the has made several of them, which you take care of our family. Verse 21 when it snows. She has no fear for her household, for all of their McLeod in scarlet verse 23. Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. Verses 26 through 28. She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of our household. He does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praises her. Thank God for women with strong family values. Thank God that there are women in the body of Christ today who have come to realize that in God's scheme of things. Family is more important than finances family is more important than quote unquote personal fulfillment. Thank God for women who have decided not to follow the ways of the world that have everybody out doing their own thing and let family come in second, third, fourth, whenever they come in. It's not the will of God, and we end up body of Christ.

We've got to decide that were going to do things God's way and God's way is for us to prioritize family above things and family above the pursuit of selfish ambition. Now you always remember when it comes the family. This is God's will, and we do it because it is God's will.

He is the one who said when you enter into family life. You decide to be a wife you decide to be a mother. Then you take on responsibilities you become a stalwart responsibility that I have given you notice that God in his word gives us job descriptions tells us how we are to prioritize family. Both men and women as we come into marriage how we are to prioritize one another above our personal pursuits and ambition. I'm long since been on the record that the husband's job number one for a husband who wants to be a man of God. His first job and responsibility is to be married to a happy woman I've long since been on the record about that.

So now is the women's term. If you are a married woman job number one is to do all you can to be married to a happy man to prioritize your marriage above, many of these things that you see people striving for in the world and going through all kinds of changes that, even if it means breaking out housekeeping old well because they're out for number one and number one is personal pursuit. Leave myself and I this is not the will of God will of God is for us to have strong and godly family values and thank God for women who have those many of us were blessed to be raised by more heavily influenced by women who knew how important it was to love their husbands and their children knew how important it was to take care of family and to make sure things were straight and thank God for that married women. Your job is to do what you can to be married to a happy man.

Notice what we are told here. This woman's husband has full confidence in her and he lacks nothing of value she brings in good not harm, all the days of her life lock because she knows how to handle her business at home. She knows how to make sure that he is well treated and well respected. He has confidence in her decision-making. He has confidence in her priorities.

He has confidence also in her ability to be discreet.

He has full confidence in her because she has learned how to be discreet.

See if you're going to have a strong marriage. You gotta learn some lessons you gotta make some quality decisions married and don't get strong by themselves in the chart. If you haven't noticed that we are it all out spiritual warfare over the family because were resisting the trends of the world and the enemy of our souls is coming again stuff to try to destroy family have a strong family are going to have to make those decisions that are consistent with what the word said you gotta decide to prioritize your relationship.

Above all others when in the earlier years of my marriage. That's one of the lessons I learned the hard way to prioritize my wife properly to put her in that place that only she was to occupy in my heart and in the way I lived out my life and I don't mind sharing with you that in the earlier years of my marriage.

I didn't understand that and I had a lot of platonic female friend for my single years and when I got married I just dragged him into my married years, and because there platonic I thought everything was right. Well, you know, he's a legitimate relationship to me. I'm no doing like I'm not no messing around or anything like that. So what's the problem I couldn't figure out what was the problem I noticed people and they say you know them so was the odd thing about me so that you can sit and rest easy and pretend like you don't have some and I didn't get why I wasn't married to a perfectly happy woman because I thought I'm providing well and what have you and I just didn't get it and along the way. I had to learn after I got tired of being at the what I had to figure out that must be something that I haven't learned yet when before the Lord and talked with her and try to work things through the Lord, combined with her help me to understand that I had missed prioritized and I do make a quality decision that she would feel like she would not only be and what I said but by the way I live my life.

She would be the number one priority in my human relations and the time came when I realized that I was guilty of having L-shaped relationships that made her feel less than don't go away. The second half of today's Destin for Victor message Pastor Paul Sheppard is coming right up. But we want to take just a moment to thank all of you who sustained Destin for victory with your prayers and financial support, gifts that help pastor Paul share the gospel with the growing audience Destin for victory is a listener supported ministry right now as we find ourselves recovering from the pandemic and the challenges of the past year. Your help is needed now more than ever. Many people have questions and you can help lead them to answers that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

So as God leads. Please prayerfully consider making a gift to Destin for victory today. Give securely online@pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500 thanks in advance for being as generous as you can. What can the L teach us about marriage and family more than you might think coming your way next pastor Paul shares a personal story from his own marriage, one that may help you in your own Celeste join him now for the rest of today's message in praise of godly women that want you to picture L and to realize that many people make this classic mistake in marriage in terms of mis-prioritizing. They develop L-shaped relationships versus triangular relationship. I want to picture L and you know it has three points. The top and in the center base and bend the side off to the right. Now understand one of the things that you do wrong in marriage very often is if you don't understand this, you have a married person. You are the base of the L and what I did wrong was I Dragon all the people who were overall in the right point in my life. Well that point has no direct connection with the top of the L you see what I'm saying and so connected to both the and the parallel and will in an article in and in life and thought she's up there was the problem, but there were these folks off to the side. She might know them by name, but she had no relationship with them had no real sense of what their motives were no real sense of anything and so she felt like that was a whole area of my life that was off-limits to her and it caused her to feel insecure and less than important and God had to show me that that L is wrong for married me and for married woman as well.

You don't go to the job and make all these friends that your spouse knows nothing about have no sense of confidence in these people more and let your prioritizing your spouse, God had to show me that any relationship that was L-shaped was one that was a cause of grief and trouble in my wife's heart and I had to repent for that and I had to make at a certain point in our marriage make a rocksolid commitment to her that my relationships will become triangular because in a triangle but three points. All have connection to each other and I said to her.

At one point any woman in my inner circle of friends or any woman who works closely with me. From then on she began the interview and hire all the women who work directly with me and if you don't get by her.

You don't get by and I said to her anybody you don't have complete confidence in a you have any misgivings whatsoever.

I don't understand it because you understand that there are times when we won't get it. We won't get it she will just feel something and think something and you can spend 21 days trying to figure out if you want to, but your best bet is to say by this agreement by faith. And that's exactly what had to happen, and suddenly she began to have a sense of security and confidence, and it took our relationship to another level.

Because have got to learn to prioritize family over your personal ambitions and design. She had to learn a lesson as well.

There was a time when the Scripture speaks of a woman making sure husband has full confidence in her women you got to do that by result. Just as I expressed my only change to better our marriage. She made some to because you know sometimes women when you're going through some of those marital stresses and strife. Sometimes women are guilty of just talking to everybody they felt close to about what they're going through. Sometimes you feel like you just talk to everybody you will and see what you got understand. Therefore, it says each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sin if you want your spouse to develop full confidence in you have to know that you're not going to share all your troubles and crises with them to people whose hearts they don't have a chance to get to know and so create a problem in your marriage talking to party C about your husband when you wouldn't talk to party thing about himself and so that's one of the lessons God taught my wife and I remember the time when she came to me and asked my forgiveness and we talked it through and we decided that we didn't find the people we are both comfortable with trying to look through something and strife. We have people have to know what talk to them and we found our preapproval. So now if she's been through something I want to know. She will talk to because we decided that to keep our marriage strong.

I don't have to worry about walking in and she's gotta subtly change her compensation owed is good. You just don't know you all out of trouble walking and you can tell somebody been talking to get well will listen. Please understand something we gotta make quality choices prioritize family.

We were married we are to be married to happy people as much as lies within us, and therefore you are a person of strong family values.

Thank God for godly women who value their spouses who honor them who respect them who cover. Now we know first Peter Flores is love covers a multitude of fault or sin. Please understand about some illegitimate cover-up covering simply means that you don't want to expose your spouse's weaknesses to the world that they need talking to do that in private and you do that with respect the Bible to speak the truth in love, don't dress them down publicly and you don't have to dress up and down private you can stay focused on the issue is what you're doing here is what you say things.

I'm just starting to buy you focus on the issue. But when you get out in public. You make sure that people know I have my spouses back. I had the back and I don't find I will be going through because we don't handle our business by ourselves or find the people we have confidence in, and pulled them in, but we are not going to let me know everything were going through because we have strong family values. Thank God for godly women who raise their children both married women and those who find themselves single parents raise their children in the fear and admonition of the they have strong family values. Thank God. Some of these women have to go out and be the breadwinner. Then come home and bake the bread but God is giving them the strength to do it to make sure their children are well taken care of to make sure their children know that mom's got your back that I'm going to see to it that your needs are met, and thank God for that. For those women who have made up in their minds they are going to be women of strong family values women who don't create problems in their lives.

They solve their problem. One of my favorite female characters in the Bible. Is this you might woman spoken of in second Kings and she is a woman who when Elisha was coming through her town of Schuller.

She wanted to build an extension on her house.

Another room so that this profit. This man of God could have a place to stay a place to call his own, but she had strong family values so she made sure to invite Elisha into a meal why she wanted her husband to get to know this man and to have the same confidence in him that she had see you got operate in wisdom. If you're going to be a woman of God, and she operated and that wisdom and she made sure husband came to know him and feel at home with him so that when the day came psychotic when that man of God comes to town. He doesn't have anywhere to stay and I was thinking that we could build an extension on the hole and give him his own place what you think about it.

Now that we are clearly told in second Kings that she was a woman.

I mean she got married. Having money and exhibiting unwise women like some Cuban women I know he'd come home one day the contractors will bid all wackos in my money I do what I want to ask you for anything that's not wise living and so she said honey what you think about this and made sure that there was a sense of partnership that she knows she would build in that room then uses is not slick. We know that your two of us want you to know we understand we know what you are ahead of us. Your way down the road, but we are walking together say what you think about you, but to give up on the roof not think about build it right it would do you think this is so this is all right a good idea honey, thank you for your input is so good and why the wise God in public.

You know the one that just know you go there and have his fun down at the city. Thank God for women of nobility strength and power. And thank God for women of strong family value will for decades now the nuclear family has been under something like a nuclear attack and today Satan is attacking marriage and family like never before. For this reason, godly women are invaluable not only in the life of a family, but in the lives of each individual member of it. So here's to all the mothers and mother figures out there. Thank you so much for all you do will ministry like marriage requires partnership. In fact, partnership is always been essential for every great work of God. He designed us just for that purpose for relationship and for partnership both with him and with one another today. Pastor Paul would like to invite you to partner with him as he seeks to share the gospel all over the world is our way of saying thanks for your partnership will send you a few thank you gifts including one of Pastor Paul's most popular CDs. The best of let my people smile, call 855-339-5500 to find out more about how to become a destined for victory partner for as little as $20 a month, or mail your gift letting us know you wish to become a partner. The address is destine for victory PO Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. You can also become a partner for my website. Pastor Paul.net. If you can't become a destined for victory partner but would like to make a one-time donation today would love to send you Pastor Paul Shepard's booklet traits of a virtuous woman that's traits of a virtuous woman about the from Pastor Paul that goes hand-in-hand with the message you heard today in our gift to you by request for your generous gift to destine for victory days when many are listening to people who are so-called experts but they don't have wisdom because the Bible says, the fear of the Lord is the big main all wisdom and I want you to know that this Proverbs 31 woman is a woman who was in the process of raising her children well that is by biblical standards. That's tomorrow in Pastor Paul Shepard's message in praise of godly women. Until then, remember he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ, you are destined for victory