LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY!

Why don’t women live in their glory?
Because they’ve been told a different story!

We’ve got to get the correct story.

Did you know that God wants us to live in glory? He has invited us to enjoy His eternal glory, but He wants us to live in glory here on this earth too. Jesus prayed to His Father in John 17:22 (NET): “The glory you gave to me I have given to them . . .  so that the world will know that you sent me . . .”

This is amazing. We know that God is filled with glory, but we forget that He wants to also fill us with His glory. One of the Hebrew words for glory is hadar and it means “glory, magnificence, splendor, beauty from above, beyond honor, majesty, and dignity.” We know that God is all these adjectives but Proverbs 31:25 tells us that women are to live in glory as well: “Strength and honor (hadar) are her clothing.” We are to be inwardly and outwardly clothed in glory.

Another Hebrew word for glory is kabod and it has a similar meaning: “to be weighty and heavy with glory, honor, esteem, and majesty.” This word is used to describe God but also the woman.

Proverbs 11:16 says: “A gracious woman retains honor (kabod).” We already have glory because we are created in the image and likeness of God. We have been blessed with a female glory. We must retain it. We must hold on to it. It’s easy to let it go in the midst of this humanistic and anti-God culture that surrounds us.

Womanhood and motherhood are belittled in our society today, but this is the opposite of God’s plan. He has a glory life waiting for us. It’s time to embrace it.

Lamentations 1:6 says: “From the daughter of Zion all her beauty (hadar) is departed.” In many cases, glory had departed from God’s female creation. The glory has departed from motherhood and the home today. From kindergarten to college, young girls are indoctrinated to believe that motherhood is inferior, and they must set their vision on a career outside of the home.

But what does the Bible have to say?

Motherhood is Glory

It is the glory of the nation. In Hosea 9:11-17 we read about Ephraim who had turned away from the Lord. God was sending judgment upon them for their sin and His judgment was to take away their glory. What was the glory that He would take away? Verse 11 says: “Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!”

God looked upon motherhood as the glory of the nation. Even Ephraim (which means double fruitfulness) considered conception, pregnancy, and birth to be their glory. The diminishing of children is a curse; the increasing of children in the land is glory.

Isaiah 26:15 (ESV) says: “You have increased the nation O LORD, you have increased the nation; you are glorified, you have enlarged all the borders of the land.” It is God’s glory to give the blessing and increase of children. This is the opposite to liberal ideology which is man’s wisdom. But who do we listen to? Man’s wisdom or God’s infallible wisdom? Read Isaiah 55:7, 8 and 45:18.

Motherhood is the glory of womanhood. This statement is true for not only women to whom God has given children but for every woman. God has innately put within every female a nurturing anointing to nourish and cherish life. If a woman rejects children, she will purchase an animal to pet instead.

“But it doesn’t feel like glory in my home,” I hear you say. Often, we don’t live in the glory because we don’t have the right mind set. Although we love our children, we have not truly embraced motherhood. We think we should be doing something more important. That mindset keeps you confused.

To live in the glory, you must know God’s plan for you, know that you are in the perfect will of God, and know without any doubt that you are in the greatest and most influential career in the nation. Of course, you’ll have difficult and challenging days, but you face these things in every job, every career, and anything you do in life. The only difference is that motherhood is the most powerful career given to women. The devil does not want you to know this and keeps you in the dark. He wants to keep you from your glory.

Raising Children in the Home is Glory

Mothers are the glory of the home. Home and motherhood are synonymous. God created Adam before He created the first home, the Garden of Eden. But before God created His female creation, He made sure the home was ready. When Eve woke up to life, she found herself in the home God created for her. She was created for the home and to make her home a delight, which is the meaning of the word Eden.

Isaiah 63:15 tells us that God’s home is a dwelling place of holiness and glory, and He wants our homes to be the same.

Sadly, the home is degraded by the liberals today. In doing so, they are cutting off their feet and chipping away at the strength of the nation. Mothers in the home are the hidden strength of the nation.

In Micah 2:9 it says: “The women of My people You cast out from their pleasant houses: from their children You have taken away My glory (hadar) forever.” God clearly states here that when children are taken out of the home that they are taken away from their glory. In other words, it is their glory to be raised in the home. It is God’s plan. He provides the home for the blessing, security, safety, teaching, and training of children.

The New English Translation says: “You defraud their children of their prized inheritance.”

The Amplified version says: “From her children you take away My splendor and blessing forever (by putting them among the pagans, away from Me).” God wants His children to grow up in His presence in the home and to be taught His ways. He does not want them to be taught by pagans. He does not want them to be influenced by humanism, feminism, and extreme socialism. He does not want them to be taught transgenderism and all the other isms that are against God and His eternal truths. That takes away their glory.

Nursing a Baby is Glory

We read the beautiful allegory in Isaiah 66:10-13 which describes Jerusalem as a nursing mother. As we read this passage, we understand how God sees the glory of a nursing mother—the breasts bringing comfort, consolation, delight, peace, and glory. Verse 11 of the Berean Study Bible says: “So that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious (kabod) abundance.”

Are you breastfeeding your baby, dear mother? You are doing a glorious work. Not only is your baby blessed but you are blessed with the wonderful anti-stress hormones of oxytocin and prolactin. God provides adequately for the nursing mother.

Preparing Children for Eternity is Glory

Dear mother, you are not wasting your time as you nurture, teach, and train your precious children. Motherhood is not a fading career but lasts for eternity. All other careers will be left behind but pouring out your life to prepare your children for their destiny is an eternal career. You are pouring into eternal souls.

I think of the apostle Paul who poured out his soul for the new believers. When he wrote to the young Thessalonian Christians, he said: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at this coming? For ye are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20).

A career outside your home will not be your glory on the day you stand before the Lord. Your glory will be your children that you have faithfully raised for Him. As I raised our children, I constantly prayed the same prayer Paul prayed for these believers in 5:23: “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Motherhood is not only caring for the physical bodies of our children but their souls and their spirits. That takes full-time motherhood.

Dressing Femininely is Glory

I believe this is another area where women have lost their glory. Because God created us as his female creation, we should glory in our femininity. We live in a genderless society where the roles of male and female are not emphasized. The more we embrace our femininity in every department of our lives, the more we bring glory to God for He is the One who created us this way.

This also means to dress femininely and beautifully.

The Bible talks about how God dresses gloriously. Isaiah 63:1 talks of God being “glorious (hadar) in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength.” Can I share some other translations?

Complete Jewish Bible: “magnificently dressed.”

New English Translation: “wearing royal attire.”

If God dresses gloriously and honorably, shouldn’t we? He wants us to be the revealers of His glory on the earth. Because He is dressed in royal attire, shouldn’t we dress more regally and royally?

Psalm 104:1 (CEV) describes God: “You are glorious and majestic (hadar), dressed in royal robes and surrounded by light.” And do you remember that Proverbs 31:25 states that the virtuous woman is also clothed with glory (hadar)? Nineteen different translations of the Bible translate it with the word dignity. Do you dress with dignity or according to the fashion of this age?

God loves beautiful clothing. When he designed the clothing for the high priest, he stated that his clothing was to be “for glory and for beauty.” (Exodus 28:2). We who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus have now been made priests unto God. Shouldn’t we wear clothing according to our status?

We do not owe the spirit of the world the honor of dressing according to its fashion but surely, we owe honor to the God who created us female. When we dress or act masculinely, we detract from our God-given femininity and therefore our glory.

NANCY CAMPBELL

LISTEN TO MORE!

The Bible is filled with the awesome glory of God. This article is only a little glimpse of the glory God talks about in the Bible. I have shared 17 podcasts on this subject and still have not exhausted the subject. You can check out the following podcasts if you would like to listen to more of the glory God has for you as a woman.

Go to the home page of www.aboverbies.org and click on LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

Or go to: http://ARPoddy.buzzsprout.com or your favorite poddy app.

THE GLORY OF WOMANHOOD, Parts 1 – 10 (Nos. 68 – 77).

LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY, Parts 1 – 6 (Nos. 159 – 164).

LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 6 – GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH HIS GLORY (No. 171).