Becoming A Virtuous Woman

My friends, this month I am celebrating "me". As I look forward to celebrating another year of life, I thank God for His mercy and grace. When I look back over my life, all that the Lord has brought me through, I know that I never would have made it without the Lord, so the least I can say is "thank you, Lord." Thank you Lord for forgiveness, thank you for putting me on the right track, thank you for showing up day after day, after day in my life; thank you for deliverance; thank you for redemption; thank you for letting me believe in YOU; thank you for letting me see my worth as a woman.

Becoming that woman, that virtuous woman that God wants me to be, requires work, God's work. One cannot be a virtuous woman and not love herself or her family or her neighbors. A virtuous woman serves the Lord with all her heart, mind and soul.
As I work on becoming that virtuous woman of God, Proverbs 31:10 -31 directs me:
"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." (KJV)

My Sisters, take that journey with me to become that woman, that virtuous woman of God!

God bless,
Therese from Belize

Joy Comes In The Morning

Psalm 30:5, "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
Last evening I let a situation (sore throat, headache, achy joints and a messy house) get the best of me and Satan found an opening to attack. But the devil is a liar. Today is a new beginning and I am jumping with joy, joy joy, down in my heart! As soon I arrived at my 8 year old's school, he ran to me with a big smile! His smile was just radiant and I saw the innocence and love glowing in him. I thank God for giving me this new beginning. I know that in His favour is life. Today I may be down but I know that tomorrow I will be up because weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning! Satan is defeated, in the name of Jesus, and he can attack me any way he wishes, but I serve a God who blesses me with favour each and every day and for that I am very grateful.

Glory to God.
Therese from Belize

Amazing Grace

Today, I am thanking God, sincerely thanking God for His grace! Sometimes, I get this overwhelming joy and happiness in my heart that I just cannot explain, sometimes it just makes me want to get up and dance about the place!! Last night, I was completing the second chapter of my book, but I was also listening to XM Channel 32, the Praise Channel, and the music, it was just ministering to my heart! I had to stop write and just praise God! God is good to me; He has been good to you too! I just kept asking myself, what would I do without grace, where would I be without grace? It is because of grace that I am sanctified and redeemed.

As Paul reminded the people of Philippi in the Book of Philippians 3:12-15: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in
Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.”

Because of grace, I am pressing forward, there is no looking back for this Sister! I pray that each of you will continue to press forward as you continue to mature in your walk with Christ, continue to magnify God’s name, and keep your lights shining for all to see! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!

To God be the glory!
Therese from Belize

Doing The Lord's Will

My dear friends, please know I have not stopped writing my blogs. However, God is using me to spread the Gospel via witnessing. I am doing some outreach and also working on my book. I am now on the second chapter, which is to be completed by October 26, 2010.

My friends, please keep me in prayer as I work for the Lord, as I do what God wants me to do, as I go where God wants me to go.

I thank God for you and for your support. Please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail at therwarrick@gmail.com.

2 Timothy 4:1-5
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Stay blessed,
Therese from Belize

My Praise Will Not Quit

Greetings, my friends, in the name of Jesus!
I pray all is well with each and every one of you. The Lord has been at me since last year about my redemption. He has given me a message to tell others, and in obedience, that is exactly what I will keep on doing — I will keep telling about my redemption!

Therefore, I just had to let you know that my praise will not quit and I pray that your praise will not quit! In case you are wondering why I am talking about not letting our praise quit, let me break it down for you (with the help of Rev. Dr. Beecher Hicks):

1) Our praise should not quit because God favors us with unexpected blessings;
2) Our praise should not quit because when we are favored with God’s blessings, it is obvious to others that we are blessed;
3) Our praise should not quit because when we are blessed, the people in our circle “get it”; they too get blessed!

Psalm 107:2 says: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” (KJV) I will keep on saying so and I pray you will do the same! My heart has been dancing with joy!

God bless,
Therese

I Have A Pep In My Step - I am Grateful!

I am still dancing to the songs of Bishop Hezekiah Walker (God Favors Me, I Am Souled Out, and a few others). I was in attendance at St. Stephen’s Church for a concert featuring Bishop Walker last Saturday evening. One song just keeps resonating in my mind and that is the song, Grateful. I am not a singer, but I know the angels are singing with me!

Here are the lyrics:

I am
Grateful for the things
That you have done
Yes, I'm grateful for the vic-tories we've won
I could go on and on and on
About your works
Because I'm grateful, grateful, so grateful
Just to praise you lord
Flowing from my heart
Are the issues of my heart
It's Gratefulness
Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Gratefulness
It's flowing from my heart
Flowing from my heart
Are the issues of my heart
It's Gratefulness


Grateful means to be obliged, appreciative, thankful, indebted. I am indeed indebted to my Christ Savior, for He sacrificed His life so I can receive the free gift of salvation! I am appreciative and obliged and thankful to my Father because He supplies All my needs; He turns my sorrow into joy; He is my rock on which I stand; He is the King of kings and Lord of lords; He is my deliverer and redeemer; He is my friend in time of trouble; my Lord just gets sweeter and sweeter as the days go by!! I can certainly go on and on and on, but you know what I am talking about.

Friends, let us treat our Lord as if we are indeed grateful to Him. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath delivered from the hand of the enemy. (Psalm 107:2)

Be blessed,
Therese from Belize

Why Is The Redeemed Not Saying So?

I am a woman who have been redeemed by the Lord, a sinner who was once lost, but now found, a child who once left home, but has now returned. Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.“ (KJV) Notice, friends, let the redeemed of the Lord say so… not the redeemed of man, not the redeemed of momma, not the redeemed of daddy, not the redeemed of granny or granddaddy, but the redeemed of the Lord!
Before I could get into the message of being redeemed, I looked in the King James Reference for the word “redemption” and it gives me a simple definition, “salvation by sacrifice”. In other words, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came and redeemed the world by the sacrifice of His blood.
In Hebrew “Redeem” means to regain possession of
Other definitions I found: Save from sin, restore the honor or worth of; to rescue, to recover, to deliver from (King James online reference)

What does Salvation by sacrifice do? It restores our honor or worth of. In other words, God sent His only begotten Son to restore our honor and worth. For my sisters, we are restored to queens, restored to royalty, we are joint heirs with Christ. This is where we say thank you Father.

Let me tell you of a true example of redemption…the Samaritan woman at the well. Yes, that’s right, the woman at the well. Powerful conversation between that Samaritan woman and Jesus. I read the King James version, but I want to break this down simple, so I went to my study Bible, the New Century Version. John 4, Verses 16-18, “Jesus told her go get your husband and come back here. The woman answered, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you are right to say you have no husband. Really, you have had five husbands, and the man you live with now is not your husband, You told the truth. And the conversation continued and she recognized Jesus as someone special, she asked him if he were a prophet. She knew the Messiah was coming and Jesus told her, “I am He”. You know the story, the disciples showed up, they were surprised. Now, here is where she run tell dat…she went back to town and told the people all about Jesus, so they all left to come and see Jesus. Many saw, many heard, many believed. Many came to Christ. True redemption, my friends, redemption, my Sisters. You see, Jesus did not judge her because of her past, but He made her so comfortable, He gave her the free gift, that is, redemption through salvation.
Sisters, what keeps the redeemed from saying so? Why do we say by mouth we are redeemed but we do not run and tell anyone what our Lord and Savior has delivered us from? Our Lord and Savior Jesus was crucified for our sins. Jesus went through all the pain and suffering so we can be redeemed and yet still we do not open our mouths to let the world know that we have been redeemed.
Let me answer this for you, from experience, I am answering.
1) Our past. Ashamed of how we used to live in the past;
2) Guilt. This is when we have done something to someone and we never asked that person for forgiveness;
3) Idea of unforgivable sins – abortion, adultery, abuse;
4) Image issues - physical scars on our bodies, gaining weight, surgeries;
5) Waiting for perfection to say so. Try to change first because telling someone of God’s goodness and forgiveness and love for His people.

My friends, before I truly got serious in my walk with Christ, I was that woman who went to the well… Yes, I was all of those things I just told you about. I have been there, done that—my past, yes, guilt, yes, unforgivable sin-yes, image issue – don’t even talk about that, yes, waiting for perfection- yes. But see, we serve such an awesome Savior that me too me had that conversation with Christ one fateful Sunday morning at the well (in the parking lot of Crossroad Christian Church in Lexington, KY). All glory and honor to God, I am proud to say, to yell, to jump and run and let you know I am redeemed.
My friends, are you redeemed? Are you redeemed? Are you redeemed?

It is not the clothes, not the house, not the car, not your money, the job, oh no, it is Christ’s mercy and grace that hath redeemed us.
If you are not redeemed, now is the time to get redeemed, today is the day, do it today, do not delay.
Redemption is simple and easy. Just go back and re-read John 4. God redeems us through:
1) His power – Deuteronomy 7:8
2) Christ’s blood – Ephesians 1:7
3) God’s grace – Romans 3:24-25

What is even more beautiful is that there are benefits to being redeemed. In these crazy times, redemption pays.
It pays because:
1) We are Forgiven. When we are forgiven God wipes our slate clean; no one can throw anything in our face. We have been found not guilty.
2) We receive an Inheritance – inheritance not only for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren and for everyone that is associated in our circle. That neighbor who is struggling, that co-worker with problems, the husband or wife who is acting the fool. Let us not be selfish, let our children be blessed.
3) We receive Eternal Life – most importantly. We will have a room in God’s mansion!

My friends, as I close, let me remind you, Christ is coming, you best believe and He is coming soon. I do not know when, I do not know the hour. All I know is that He is coming. I suggest you get redeemed before He comes because He will come like a thief in the night. Will you be redeemed?
God bless.
Ta ta,
Therese from Belize