It is Finished...

Several years ago God brought me to a place in my walk with Him to deal with deep rooted sin and immorality in my heart. Even though I had been risen to new life though receiving the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, I was still wearing the grave clothes. Just as Jesus had called Lazarus out from the grave after being dead for four days, He had called me out of the grave. When Lazarus emerged from the grave he was still wearing the grave clothes and so was I. Filthy rags draped around me with the stench of sin, shame, guilt and unforgiveness. But just as Jesus told the people "Unwrap him and let him go!" (John 11:44) Jesus had faithfully sent His people into my life to gently unwrap my grave clothes to set me free! There was a history of sin in my life that needed to be cleansed. A dear friend of mine walked with me for nine weeks though this process of cleansing. Every Saturday morning we met together and invited God to meet with us. And meet with us He did! Though prayer, intense study of His word, and sharing with one another in a safe place, little by little the rags were coming off. Week by week I was beginning to feel lighter and smell better. Until finally the rags were gone and I was naked before my God. God still had much to teach me in this process. As I followed the spirits calling, I was led to write down each sin of immorality that I had committed in the past, and place them in a small envelop. Though prayer the Holy spirit revealed each one to me. I carried those sins with me for three weeks everywhere, and realized they were a heavy burden. I knew I was being called to do something physical to release them. God had a plan. Through His word, God lead me to be baptized, which simply means to immerse in water. So I found myself, naked with God and my little envelop of sin in a tub of water. I went though an agonizing period of confessing each sin, forgiving, and releasing that sin to Jesus, placing it back in the envelop never to be taken out again. Huge drops of sweat was falling into the water and I could hardly bare the process. I then emerged myself in the water fully expecting to arise, feeling refreshed and clean, but I didn't. If anything I felt worse. This made me angry. I did everything I was suppose to, what happened. The next morning was the same. As I was driving to church I heard a song that made it all make sense. I was being purified. I was not in a cleansing rain but a purifying fire. Three days after my confession I met one last time with my dear friend and we burned that small envelop in the fire. A late summer thunderstorm was rolling in and I stood outside holding three white balloons. My pastor had said Sunday," Forgiveness means to send away." So I let the balloons go. Cool drops of rain hit my face and I could hear thunder roll in the distance. We stood in silence and watched as the balloons rose in the sky. As the rain fell all around us those balloons formed a perfect cross, and we stood staring until they could no longer be seen. Ahhhh, the cleansing rain. The Lord said to me "It is finished, it was finished at the cross, I love you, my precious daughter." I went from grave clothes, to nakedness, to clothes of righteousness.

"Be strong and courageous and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly." 1 Chronicles 28:20

Dear Sisters In Christ,

As we prepare to start the time we celebrate the Passion of Jesus, I would like to encourage you to spend some time reading the recount of what Jesus did for us in one of the Gospels. I am reading it in Mark right now and it is so emotional.

Beginning with Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey and people shouting His name and waving palm branches... to the denial of Peter. The unjust accusations of the Jewish Leaders and trial before Pilate. To the horrible torture of our Savior and then his eventual excruiciating (the word "cross" comes from that word) death on the cross....we see the Love of God on our behalf. Jesus was sacrificed in our place for our sins and His blood cleanses us from all of our sins when we receive Him as our sacrifice and Savior.

Praise God, He arose from the dead and was no longer held captive in the tomb. Our sins, past, present and future were paid for when He cried out, "It is finished". The veil was torn in two in the temple and Satan's destiny was sealed. Jesus went up to Heaven in the presence of His beloved disciples! Hallelujah, we serve a Risen Savior. We owe Him our all!

The last line of the great, old Hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" says:

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life , my all.

How can we not give Him our all? When He has given so much for us!

I pray this Easter will be the most special one that you, my sisters in Christ, have ever experienced. Blessings to you and your families, may we all work together for the Kingdom of God and our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love In Jesus,
Nancy

Dear Precious Sisters In Christ,

We experienced such an awesome presence of God and out pouring of His Grace and Love on us @ the retreat @ the Cove this past weekend. We missed you, if you weren't able to attend and wish so much you could have joined us. Our speaker Jana Spicka was awesome and absolutely had a message from God to share with us. The worship team led by Jill Burns took us to a level of oneness with the Lord that was just such a blessing. The 6 women who shared their testimonies of God's grace in their lives just brought us all to tears. We had some great skits and break out sessions and of course being at the Cove is like being in the waiting room for Heaven! Our theme was "The Time of Your Life"....walking with God through the different times or seasons of our lives.

We will be having a Post Retreat Gathering this Sunday @ 3 PM in Pod D @ Brookwood. We invite not only those who attended the retreat but all Brookwood Women to come and enjoy a little taste of what the retreat was all about!

I hope to see you there. May God....Show you the path of life....in His presence is fullness of joy, at His right hand, pleasures for evermore.

God Bless you!

Nancy

Welcome Ladies!

Thanks for joining us on the B Women Blog. Whatever season of life you are in we want to be a source of encouragement and blessing to you. Our "B" not only stands for Brookwood Women, but, it stands for Bonding, Blessing and Building and that is what we hope to do as a Women's Ministry.

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We look forward to connecting with you at our next event and on this blog. So, check back often! Also, feel free to contact us at www.brookwoodwomen@gmail.com.

February 1, 2009

Hello Ladies,

Something that has been on my heart recently is the opportunity to reach out to women within our own church. Sometimes we get so busy doing "church" things that we miss taking the time to really see who is around us. Brookwood makes it easy for people to slip in and out "undetected":) Even when women might really be yearning for a friend or someone to take an interest in them, they tell themselves they just want to be left alone! I was one of those women! I sat @ Brookwood for several years, no one spoke to me or personally asked me for coffee...nothing! Till one day, when there was a small group connection tent outside @ the old church and I finally decided to go and see! God's timing was perfect and there was only one person in the tent.....a woman @ the Women's Small Group table. Finally, I got connected to a person and the rest is history.

Last Sunday we went to a different Service time and there was a woman I hadn't seen behind me. I turned to her and introduced myself, we chatted and I said, "let's get together for coffee". We exchanged info. I emailed her and her response was, "I moved here 2 years ago and only know 2 people, I was just asking the Lord to help me get connected some how and then you talked to me." We are having coffee this week and I pray God will direct me to be able to get her connected.

Let's be more intentional about reaching out to the hundreds of women coming to Brookwood each Sunday that we might be the channel that God uses to touch their lives...let's show them God's love! Have a blessed week, B Women!

Nancy Buck

New Year, New Beginnings

This past year I experienced a rut. Several months of unseeming growth and battles of anxiety. I had been running from God, because I feared what He would reveal to me or may have me do. It was the middle of the year and I was working with an elderly lady, Ms. Betty, who suffered from Dementia/Alzheimer’s and was confused much of the time. I love her dearly. This one particular week was very busy with appointments and different functions. She needed assistance with a shower and all week she would bathe but never had time to wash her hair. By Friday, she could have gone into the oil business, I was determined to get her in the shower and scrub that nasty head. I washed her hair three times, roughly, and felt much better about it. After her shower, I would help her into a chair and I would proceed to dry and style her hair. I left the room to fetch a few needed things and when I returned, Ms. Betty was crying. I asked her “Why are you crying?" her response was," It just feels so good to be clean." The night before I had awoke at 2am (not by choice) to spend some much needed time with my Lord, that I had been avoiding like the plague. I was convicted of my lack of obedience and wept though the night. Sitting in that small bathroom, I shared this with my dearest friend, and this is what she said. “Oh, the Lord has such wonderful plans for you. He is going to pour water over you like you poured that water over me in the shower, He wants to scrub you clean, just like you used your hands to scrub me clean. But, you see, you won't feel clean until your head is clean." Ahhhh, tears rolled down my face as I stared at that sweet little lady. I knew God was speaking to me, telling me not to be afraid, that He is gentle and loving. The funny thing is, Ms. Betty began to say things that made no sense and suddenly she said, "What? Ohh, God just told me to shut up." That's all she needed to say, I won't feel clean until my head is clean. Ms. Betty had bathed all week, but she could not feel clean until her head was clean. I asked God right then to clean me, and that's just what he did. For several months He bathed me in His word. When my head was clean, I was able to run after God, seek Him without fear and guilt. As we race full steam into a new year, I pray that Christ's body will have a clean head. In 2009 I resolve to allow God to wash me, do away with the rotten and old, and replace the old with fresh and new. God's word tells us that if we belong to Him the old has passed away and behold all things are made new. Let us start the new year with a clean head.


"You'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." Philippians 4: 8-9 (The Message)


Kristin Spehar