Saturday, August 30, 2014

A Gracious Woman


O God, thou art my God: early will I seek thee;
my soul thirsteth for thee,
my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,
where no water is.
To see thy power and thy glory,
so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary.
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life,
my lips shall praise thee.
( Psalm 63:1-3 )


It is in those early and quiet hours
while the house is motionless with no disruptions
from the things which press us for time,
that we meet Jesus.  
I love my early mornings spent with my precious Lord and Savior.
Those ~ for me ~ are times when God blesses me with nuggets of gold
in the reading of His Word.
This morning was one of those days
of sweet fellowship as I sat at the feet of Jesus.
~*~
This was my nugget of gold;
"A gracious woman retaineth honor,
and strong men retain riches."
( Proverbs 11:16 )
The word gracious stopped me in my tracks
and I wanted to know more~ dig deeper~
and learn just exactly what God was wanting me to know
through this one verse.
I love to "dig" through spiritual growth books~
Bible dictionaries~Concordances~Commentaries~Topical Bibles
and the likes, to gain wisdom, knowledge
and spiritual understanding.
God's Word tells us to;
"cease from our own wisdom"
but to "be filled with the knowledge of his will,
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
That we might walk worthy of the Lord,
unto all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work
and increasing in the knowledge of God."
( Colossians 1:9-10 )
~*~ 
Matthew Henry's commentary says this about Proverbs 11:16.
" Here, 1. It is allowed that strong men retain riches,
that those who bustle in the world,
who are men of spirit and interest,
and are able to make their part good
against all who stand in their way,
are likely to keep what they have, and to get more,
while those who are weak are preyed upon
by all about them.

2. It is taken for granted that a "gracious woman"
is as solicitous to preserve her reputation for
wisdom and modesty,
and all those other graces that are the true
ornaments of her sex,
as strong men are to secure their estates;
and those women who are truly gracious will,
in like manner,
effectually secure their honour by their 
prudence and conduct.
A "gracious woman" is as honorable
as a valiant man and her honour is as sure." 
~*~
How beautifully said!
I looked up the word solicitous to see how it would apply to this statement,
and it is that the gracious woman would be,
careful~thoughtful~and full of concern.
So she is careful to "preserve her reputation."
We as women, are graced with beautiful ornaments,
and it is honorable.
May we be ladies who grace these ornaments
for His honor and glory.
~*~
I pray that your heart was just as blessed as mine was
through this one little verse from God's Word.
~*~
Our dear precious Heavenly Father.
Thank you for Your Word
that reaches into our hearts, through Your Spirit,
and touches those cord strings
which draws us ever so close to Thee.
Amen.

~Be Lovely~
Debbie

I will be joining Stephanie's party at
Roses of Inspiration

27 comments:

Bethany Carson said...

Awesome photo and beautiful words!

Stephanie said...

First of all, I am in love with the picture and pinned it :) Such beauty!

And secondly, I JUST finished writing a post about a woman's honor on my Roses of Worth blog which will come up on Monday. It's the one I've have in the back of my mind for weeks and am now writing it down. Your post went well with the words I just finished writing :) Wow, only God! I guess that goes to show we are definitely mother and daughter :)

I thoroughly enjoyed this post mom, and appreciate the "golden nuggets."

May the Lord bless you as you have blessed many women! Love you!

Billie Jo said...

Lovely...
Simply lovely!
I gain so much peace and inspiration visiting you here, my friend. : )

Patty Sumner said...

What a great nugget of wisdom you share with us today.. I love digging in the Word...searching through commentaries..doing word studies..What a valuable word for any woman to read... especially young women...Keep sharing as you receive.. Lord, let our lives be as beautiful for you as the beams of light that are radiating through the trees from the "Son".. Good stuff! Blessings!

living from glory to glory said...

Hello. I must say that it is with me also that in the early mornings I am just blessed and filled as I sit with the Lord and His precious Word!
I thank you for sharing what you learned! I did glean from it myself!
Your photo was spectacular...
A God moment!!
Love, Roxy

Unknown said...

I love the attic view and all your pictures. I will be back to look again and again!
Casual Home Idea

Joyful said...

It is a lovely word. So nice when the Lord blesses us with his wisdom :-)

Sola Scriptura said...

I've enjoyed reading parts of Matthew Henry's commentaries. Such wisdom! Thank you for sharing this wonderful post. It's always a joy to visit your blog.

Sylvia said...

What an inspiring post,Debbie. It really touched my heart to "dig" into being gracious, I always get a blessing from your post. God is truly using you to help others along this journey of life.

Valerie said...

Dear Debbie,
What a wonderful post. I love to read Matthew Henry's commentaries, so much to enlighten there. What a sweet little nugget the Lord shared with you. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Valerie

Ceil said...

Hi Debbie! I really love early morning too. Although I'm not much a 'morning person' it really is the best time to sit quietly with the Lord. Just gets too hectic later!
I can tell that this in-depth study on this bible verse is such a labor of love. And we get to benefit from it! I never really thought about it in this way, but defending our reputation by staying in line with God's will is a great way to live. And one we are called to as well.
Hope you are having a great holiday weekend!
Ceil

Marilyn Mathis said...

Your post is so refreshing. I love my morning times with the Lord. I do not know how I could live without them. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I look forward to reading them and they encourage me. Thanks.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Beautiful riches from His word, worth pursuing in our lives. I love your photo too! Early mornings - one day when my children are older, then these shall be as golden times of fellowship with God again.

Julie's Lifestyle said...

Hi Debbie, thanks for the beautiful photo and posts. Wishing you a wonderful week too.
Julie

Deborah Montgomery said...

Debbie, thank you for sharing the fruits of your study on this verse. I, too, love to look at Matthew Henry's Commentary, and those of other Puritan writers.

Anonymous said...

I love your beautiful photo and also your biblical words straight from your heart. Have a nice week with God! He's our Helper.

NanaDiana said...

Amen,Debbie. You certainly did your homework on that verse. Thank you- xo Diana

Ida said...

I'm not much of a "morning" person but I do value quiet time alone with God whenever that takes place. I love that verse (Thy Loving Kindness is better then Life).

kitty@ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen said...

Hi Debbie,
Although we have never met in person, I know through your heart, you are a gracious woman. Thank you for putting so much love and care in your post. We do need to uphold our reputations as loving, gracious women. xo

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Debbie, what a beautiful post filled with such a valuable lesson. Your grace and understanding is such a blessing. I love my quiet and early mornings with the Lord. It is then that I can face the day knowing he is always with me as I ask him to show me the way to go.

Your studies have once again blessed the hearts of all who visit and I love your wonderful photo.

Thank you for stopping by my spotlight feature at Junk Chic Cottage and your kind comment. You are so kind and I appreciate your visit.
Much Love xo

Geneva said...

Debbie, this was just wonderful! I love the nugget you got and I loved that you kept persuing it's meaning...now you've blessed us all. What a wonderful gift!
Blessings!!!

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

How beautiful are these 'rays of light' that you have shared with us today, sweet Debbie. 'Gracious' is such a lovely virtue and one I strive to attain to honor our Lord and also be a role model for the younger women in my family. Thank you for sharing this beautiful enlightenment. A hug xo Karen

Sandra said...

I'm so thankful for your morning studies as they have given us a post that's inspiring.

Being gracious has fallen out of favour for more aggressive behaviour I'm afraid. I've known many gracious women who have given me an example of how to live as a woman of Christ. I now need to remember to live that graciousness in my own life.

Thank you for a thoughtful post, Debbie.

Camille said...

Such precious Truths to be gleaned from His Word! Thank you for sharing your heart and thoughts here Debbie. How lovely it is to know that our Lord walks this path with us and will never leave us to ourselves. How much we need Him! The photo you have attached to this post is gorgeous. Hugs to you! Camille

Robyn said...

Debbie! I am finally here to visit and I'm so glad that I have time to sit and truly enjoy your post.
As always, I am struck by your words and I so enjoy learning from you. I love that you dig and find more and bring us so much to think about. I love the word 'gracious' and I want to strive for that at all times.
I find myself taking a deep breath and smiling. Thank you, dear friend. You give so much to us.
Love to you!

Stephanie said...

Hi mom! I know this is an older post and I have already read it, but it was a joy to come back and read it again. Once again I was inspired by your words and the beautiful images.

Thank you for sharing with Roses of Inspiration. I hope you're able to join us again this coming Tuesday. Much love to you!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...