Category Archives: Definitions

Blessed and Highly Favored

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Blessed and Highly Favored!

We toss this phrase around like stove-top popcorn cooking without a lid. You can expect just about anybody who is saved and has wonderful things happening in their lives to say or be tempted to say this phrase. But what does the phrase mean? And even if we know what the phrase means, can we say that it applies to us?

This phrase is taken from Luke 1 that describes Mary, the mother of Jesus and a model of submission, and hints to why God chose her to be the vessel to give birth to God in bodily form. What a high calling! Let’s take a look at the biblical account, check it against our own behavior and determine for ourselves if we think it’s appropriate to say we are blessed and highly favored.

Typically, we casually use this saying, but this seemed to be a rare proclamation in Mary’s day (Luke 1:29). We describe ourselves as blessed and highly favored, but others said this about Mary (1:28, 30, 42, 45). We tend to magnify ourselves when we say this, but Mary magnified God (1:47). And because of whatever blessings we have we rejoice in what God does for us, but Mary rejoiced in who God is (1:47).

So think about this:

1) Mary’s humility showed immediately after Gabriel complimented her. Instead of saying, “Oh thank you,” like many of us would have done, she was troubled by and wondered what the compliment meant (1:29). Do we pause to consider the motives of others who compliment us or are we just quick to agree with them?
2) Only after others complimented Mary did she acknowledge her position with God (1:48).
3) When Mary acknowledged that she was highly favored, she submitted to God. When she acknowledged that she was blessed, she magnified God (1:38, 46-47).
4) When she magnified God, she didn’t just say “I magnify God” but demonstrated so by rejoicing in who God is and what He did because of who He is (1:46-55).

With Mary as the model of being blessed and highly favored, let’s check to see if we are cautious about receiving accolades; let others initiate accolades about us before we acknowledge them; and magnify God by rejoicing in who He is and proclaiming what He does because of who He is.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Lead & Follow Hard

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If you think it’s hard thinking about working hard so you can be pure and blameless upon Jesus’ return, try thinking about Jesus while engaged in everyday responsibilities. I’m not talking about the old cliché “What Would Jesus Do?” I’m talking about the Scriptures that command what your standard behavior should be when you work for and supervise others.

Servants, obey in all things [your] masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons (Colossians 3:22-25).

A similar scripture passage in Ephesians (6:9) includes how masters should treat their servants, but I want to revisit the scripture that I used in my last entry:

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, [and] look well to thy herds (Proverbs 27:23).

We see that whether you are working for someone or supervising someone, you are commanded to be selfless. Yes, there are great personal benefits for working hard, as we saw last time, but these scriptures show that keeping others in mind should be our focus: our supervisors, our subordinates and, above all, Jesus to help us do the right thing with both groups.

So the next time you want to sigh about your boss’ request, ask yourself would you sigh at Jesus. Or when you want to just sit your ADD son in front of the television instead of engaging him in a calming activity so you can have time to yourself, ask yourself 1) is watching TV doing him (or you) any good and 2) would you leave Jesus to Himself while you took care of personal pleasures.

What we see is that the Bible considers a hard worker as one who works at things they desire to do AND one who works hard to do the right thing even when they don’t want to (1 Peter 2:13-19). Working hard to please God and not man (even you) is the righteous standard. This is not always easy, but because God requires it and has given us His Holy Spirit, His requirement is more than fair; in actuality it should be a cinch. I don’t know about you, but I had to say ‘ouch’ to that.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Working Hard for Jesus?

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“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” 1 Peter 3:14

How many of us have this as a theme scripture for our lives? Really, how many of us seek to work hard so that we can be undefiled, blameless and at peace upon Jesus’ return? For most of us it’s “work hard to get that pay check” or we do so for a personal sense of pride. I don’t think many of us are thinking about Christ’s return when we go to work every day, when we work on that special project or even when we are raising our children. Our minds may be far from Scripture when we go about our routine tasks even though the Bible tells us of other reasons we should work hard:

1. He becometh poor that dealeth [with] a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich (Proverbs 10:4).

2. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute (Proverbs 12:24).

3. The soul of the sluggard desireth, and [hath] nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat (Proverbs 13:4).

4. The thoughts of the diligent [tend] only to plenteousness; but of every one [that is] hasty only to want (Proverbs 21:5).

5. Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean [men] (Proverbs 22:29).

6. Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, [and] look well to thy herds (Proverbs 27:23).

Being rich, in charge, and otherwise prosperous (1-5) are great benefits for us being hard workers, but we are also required to work hard for the benefit of others, as item six tells us: We should work hard to know how well those we are given charge over are faring and to do what we can to help them. We shouldn’t work hard just to reap earthly benefits but so that Jesus will find us the way He expects upon His return for us. This is the great challenge for us but one with an understanding of Scripture that will be easier to achieve.

Copyright by Rhonda J. Smith

Well-Groomed for God's Glory

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In my 39th week of pregnancy, countless numbers of people have told me that I should be sitting down and allowing people to wait on me. They’ve also been surprised that I am well-groomed because if any time in your life you have license to look out of sorts it is when you’re pregnant; everyone understands that you just may not have felt like pulling yourself together, and they will excuse you. Well, I have been blessed to have a wonderful pregnancy and didn’t need to take license to have my hair and clothes looking any kind of way. But even if I did feel horrible, I would have to make a way so that I would be well-groomed because I want to strive to glorify God at all times.

Do all to the glory of God

I had someone challenge me on my previous blog entry where I stated we as Christians should do our best to look our best because we are God’s representatives. He wanted to know was I making dressing well a prescription for all Christians and then wondered where the scruffy John the Baptist fit into my premise. John the Baptist was an exception because he was called to be a Nazarite. And because God called him to an ascetic lifestyle, his obedience, including his clothes of camel’s hair and a leather belt, gave glory to God. With that said, I guess you can argue that being well-groomed is based on God’s personal calling for your life and even on cultural norms. So, if God didn’t call you to a Nazarite life and you live where good grooming means, at the bare minimum, wearing clean and neat clothes, being neat and clean is what I believe we need to do in order to give God glory.

Test your vanity

Don’t confuse giving God glory with seeking vainglory. One woman said that my previous blog post gave her “another healthy reason” to keep herself looking good. And we better make sure that we have a healthy focus. Too often we can trick ourselves into believing that we have to own a piece of clothing or wear the perfect outfit in order to give God glory. Remember the basics of neat and clean, the bare minimum that expresses you care about the look of your temple of God. We are told not to do anything to bring us glory so don’t go overboard with your look. Make sure you let your eternal light be your guide.

Shine your light

Ezra told the Israelites “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” He said this on the heels of having to encourage them not to be sad but to celebrate because they understood God’s word. We, too, should celebrate, even through our appearance, because we understand God’s word, the basic message being 1) that Jesus died for our sins; 2) we who accepted his sacrifice knew we needed a savior so we repented of our sins; and 3) because of our acceptance of his sacrifice and repentance of our sins we can live blessed lives on earth and will spend eternity in heaven because Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, our light within. This is the joy of the Lord, that gladness that comes from God that keeps and protects us. I want to express this reality to people. This joy is within me but should manifest outside of me in my behavior, my smile, my talk, my walk (the way I treat people) and the way I adorn my body. So good grooming for the Christian starts from within, from a soul that has said yes to Jesus and wants people to know about the goodness of His salvation. Our focus should always be about attracting people to us so we can attract people to Jesus. Certainly we can do this by being well-groomed.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Changing Your Mind

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I hope you know by now that a major aim of my blog is to stimulate minds in order to change hearts (thus a new mind) of black Christian women who historically have relied on making things happen themselves. The allure of being a strong black woman on your own accord is great. We like compliments; it can be nice being the center of attention; and quite frankly it’s a way many of us have always known so it’s hard to think, and, therefore, do anything other than the strong black woman way.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

But as you know, the only way that we will turn away from the world’s definition of a strong black woman is by renewing our minds. And the only way to renew our minds is to put on the mind of Jesus Christ. And the only way to put on the mind of Christ is to get to know Christ. And the only way to get to know Christ is through fellowship with Him. And the way you fellowship with Him is by reading His word and prayer. A big problem is that some of us don’t take the time to read the Bible or pray. Another problem may be that we don’t know how to engage His word or to pray.

If you are one of those people who just don’t know where to begin, you know I won’t leave you hanging. Please, visit my blog tomorrow where I will share with you ingredients for prayer that no doubt will guide you in your quest to go deeper with God. Learning how to pray properly will definitely cause you to read God’s word because in order to have an effective prayer life you must know the God that you are praying to.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith