Fearing God

Lessons from Lot's Wife on How to Submit to God

Lessons from Lot's Wife on How to Submit to God

If you’ve been apart of the Far Above Rubies Collective for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m totally obsessed with gifs (this post is probably the most extreme example of that lol). This is because I LOVE to express myself and I just adore how simple yet effective gifs are for adding that extra layer of meaning and/or emotion to my blog posts, emails and even a social media comment or two!

Next to gifs, I love memes. As you’ll know if you’re apart of my Facebook or Instagram communities, I like the inspirational ones and post those most often but I love the funny ones too- so you can imagine my delight when I came across one that said:

We are called to be the salt of the earth; not salty!

a few weeks ago!

In case you’re unsure, the Urban Dictionary defines the term “salty” as “the act of being upset, angry or bitter” and, if we’re honest, the path to purpose can make us feel that way sometimes- especially if it:

  • Changes life as we know it

  • Costs us our relationships or attachments

  • Causes us to relinquish control (of our plans/what we had in mind in favour of God’s)

  • Arouses fear and so on

We see this (and more!) clearly demonstrated in the life of Lot’s Wife via Genesis 19 as her inability to submit to God’s command, not only made her salty as defined above, but literally got her turned into a pillar of salt!

She’s a great example of the fact that, although the gift of free will means that we have the freedom to say “yes” or “no” to God, there are always consequences for either decision- for better or worse. So we need to know how to make the right ones (even when they don’t necessarily align to what we want), all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Sarah on how to become the woman God wants me to be

Lessons from Sarah on how to become the woman God wants me to be

So, I grew up in the 90’s…

When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was just “The Rock”…. and still a wrestler

When “the running man” was an entirely different dance to what it is now

When Nickelodeon was at it’s absolute peak

And during the golden age of hip-hop and R ‘n’ B-

With male groups like Dru Hill, Jodeci and Jagged Edge, and female groups like En Vogue, TLC and Brownstone…

Before, I continue, I know what you’re thinking.

“Nina, what are you even talking about?”

“Why all the 90’s nostalgia, how will this help me become the woman God wants me to be and who the heck are Brownstone?!”

Well, they’re the singers of the classic song “If you love me”

Which is essentially about a woman telling a would-be lover that the journey to becoming the person that you say you want to be starts with:

  • A decision

  • Making sure that your words and your actions are congruent

  • Taking the steps necessary to be that person today

We see this confirmed through the events of Sarah’s life as well

via Genesis 17 and 18, all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Hagar on how to stop running away from your calling

Lessons from Hagar on how to stop running away from your calling

If I was to ask you about a person in the Bible who completely took off running when faced with their calling- you'd probably say Jonah, right?

But what if I told you that there was a female who:

  • Lived many years before him

  • Also tried to run from her calling

  • Therefore has much to teach us but is often overlooked due to being overshadowed by her mistress?

Well- if the title of this blog post hasn't given it away yet- there was and her name is Hagar. The events of her life help us to understand:

  • Why we run from our calling in the first place (the root cause)

  • How to stop it so that we can come out of rebellion and live up to our God-given purpose- all of which I shared in the live video below

Lessons from Matthew 13:33 about How to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness

Lessons from Matthew 13:33 about How to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness

So last week, we talked about how to build a relationship with God as a continuation of the lessons that we learned from Noah's female relatives (the week before that) regarding why relationships are so important.

Today we're going to be building on all of this by discussing how to put God first by seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Noah's female relatives on How to Build a relationship with God

Lessons from Noah's female relatives on How to Build a relationship with God

So last week we started talking about the important lessons that we can glean from Noah's female relatives, especially regarding:

  1. Why relationships are so important

  2. What the 2 key relationships are (or should be) in your life

  3. Why you need to develop your relationship with yourself in order to better receive the 2 key relationships (mentioned above)

If you missed that, you can catch that here.

One of the key relationships that I mentioned last week was our relationship with God. So, continuing on from that, this week I talked about the 5 steps that we can take to build our relationship with God today- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Esther on the Positive Correlation between Existential Questioning and Pupose

Lessons from Esther on the Positive Correlation between Existential Questioning and Pupose

In the last few weeks, I've been talking a lot about purpose in terms of:

#1 What it is

("The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists").

#2 The common misconceptions associated with it and how to avoid them

Misconceptions such as:

  • The road to purpose being linear or 1-dimensional
  • Purpose always being about following your passions or pursuing what you love
  • The idea that you can come into purpose by yourself or without mentorship

(If you missed that, you can catch up here).

In doing all of that I've been laying the foundation for all of the theory and (Christian) theology surrounding purpose but, I'm sure you're absolutely itching to know-

"How does all this talk of purpose apply to my everyday life?!"

Okay, okay...I hear you!

Let me explain....

Lessons from Esther on the Common Misconceptions about Purpose and How to Avoid Them

Lessons from Esther on the Common Misconceptions about Purpose and How to Avoid Them

The Book of Esther chronicles Esther’s ascension to the throne as well as the exploits that she achieved for her people as queen. If you’re familiar with this story, and you’re anything like me, then you strongly associate it with a particular line- which can be found at the tail end of Esther 4:14-

“Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

If you’re not, don’t worry! I will be jumping into the meat of her story shortly. But, for now, I just want to concentrate on that scripture…

I personally love it because it speaks of purpose in the following ways:

Lessons from 30 amazing Women of the Bible

Lessons from 30 amazing Women of the Bible

This week (October 3rd to be exact) was my birthday and- it wasn't just any birthday- it was my 30th! Also, although I didn't actually make it public until late November, this month will mark a year since I started this blog with a view to:

  • Raise the profile of the contributions of the women of the Bible and how the lessons contained in these can be practically applied in our modern spiritual walks
  • Empower Christian women to fully embrace their unique identities and purpose in Christ, free of the stereotypes and traditions that can "so easily best" us

To celebrate, I am going to share my top 30 women of the Bible along with what they taught me either about Christian womanhood/femininity or life in general. So, in alphabetical order, here goes!