Motivation Monday - Why Jesus Believed Women Were Worth Investing In
“We may forget that in all we carry, our own identity, image-bearing magnificence, revealing God to the world when we use our voice and become visible, are also important. The feminine revelation of His heart has never been more important than it is right now in this cultural moment, when there is so much confusion. ”
We are officially in Advent season and have entered into a season of hope. We know it is necessary to find time to sit and reflect on what “Emmanuel, God With Us” means to us personally, and for the world. We know that in times of waiting – for the world to right itself, for us to find ourselves again after a long season of wandering, we lean into hope. Hope is what will carry us through where we have been, where we are right now, and where we are going.
Hope has come! Hallelujah! We have all that we need because Jesus is with us – the hope of glory in us, all around us. And yet we carry the earthly weight of managing this season as women who so desire to make the ‘magic’ happen.
We may believe, at least in part, that if the women don’t make Christmas ‘happen’ in the practical sense of the word, no one will.
We carry the weight in this season of being women of the word, women who take time to be in God’s presence, to light candles, to pray, to wait, expectantly for all God wants to do in our hearts during Advent. We wait in hope and all preparation begins in the sacred space of hopeful waiting.
We also carry the weight of planning for gatherings, and gift giving, and going here, there and everywhere, to make sure that memories will be made that will last a lifetime. We find ourselves wondering if we are somehow forgotten in all of the list-making, meal-preparing, house-cleaning and carpooling.
We may forget that in all we carry, our own identity, image-bearing magnificence, revealing God to the world when we use our voice and become visible, are also important. The feminine revelation of His heart has never been more important than it is right now in this cultural moment, when there is so much confusion.
Jesus believed women were worth investing in and went out of his way to call them to something they could never have imagined without His commissioning.
He called up the evangelist in the Samaritan woman at the well.
He called up the servant leader in the woman who anointed Him with oil.
He called up the apostle-like faith in the hemorrhaging woman.
He called up the gospel-carrier in Mary, who was first at the tomb, and first to carry the good news of His resurrection.
He called up the image-bearing identity in the woman bent over in the synagogue, healing her and raising her up as the first woman to be called, ‘daughter of Abraham.’
But first, He called up the destiny in a young virgin girl named Mary, when He seeded His own life in her womb.
Jesus always had and always will call up a destiny in you,
and in women everywhere,
that affirms their kingdom calling and positioning.
We are asking you, this Advent season, to receive the gift of Jesus-centred destiny that has been seeded in you.
You have inherent value because you are created by God.
We are asking you, this Advent season to also invest in the God-given gifts that have been seeded in women in Canada, which are waiting to be called up, raised and released.
Jesus believed women were worth investing in.
And so should you.
Invest in yourself.
And invest in others.
And see hope rise in the world
through the rising of each woman
who is raised to her destiny as a daughter of the
King of Kings.
Maybe this Advent season you just need to be reminded who you are.
We are asking you to invest in the potential for kingdom service of every woman who is part of the now and next generation by seeding into:
Gather DevelopHer Interns – raising and releasing the now and next generation of female leaders for kingdom service
Gather Voices Cohort Participants – equipping the female church to raise her voice – carrying gospel messages of good news into their spheres of influence.
Gather Collective Membership – monthly equipping and encouragement of women to grow their leadership influence
You can find our December to RememberHer Catalogue HERE
Please consider that if Jesus believed women were worth investing in, so can you.
I am asking you to continue to hope with us. I am asking you to consider investing in one or more women through the work of Gather Women. Giving Tuesday is tomorrow. I believe that Jesus would be found investing in and calling up women if he were alive in our midst today.
There are genesis moments waiting for all of us, throughout this season, and as we hopefully expect God to usher in a new year with new possibilities. He is the God of hope.
He believes in women. He believes in you. I believe in you!
Cathie