Women in Leadership - Let the Women Speak!Blessings to each of you in Christ Jesus! Recently I had the honor of ministering at the 14th Annual Women on the Frontlines Extreme Conference in Phoenix, AZ with Patricia King, Gwen Shaw, Heidi Baker, Beth Alves, Sharon Stone, Stacey Campbell and so many others. I gave a strategic word "Let the Women Speak!" It was a profound time! It is such an honor that the burden of the Lord that was laid upon Michal Ann and I continues to this day.
(Below are some of the notes James used to speak from this conference on Let the Women Speak that were adapted from the Prophetic Maturation Study Guide which he and Michal Ann prepared many years ago. The truths are timeless and the message is even more relevant today as in the past!)
Introductory Guidelines
The Concern for Biblical Order – Primary Verse:
1 Corinthians 11:5 (AMP) And any woman who [publicly] prays or prophesies (teaches, refutes, reproves, admonishes, or comforts) when she is bareheaded dishonors her head...
1. The first priority for men and women both is a proper relationship to God.
2. The second priority for men and women both is a proper relationship to those in authority, including those in the Church.
Scriptural Liberty for Men and Women - Primary Verses:
Acts 2:17-18 ...I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy...on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God's Kingdom].
I Corinthians 14:39-40 So...my brethren, earnestly desire and set your hearts on prophesying (on being inspired to preach and teach and to interpret God's will and purpose)...
1. The goal is not to make the exception the rule, but to produce liberty and equality where there is no restriction enforced.
2. A thought to ponder: What General of an army would only use one-half of his forces?
3. Statistics reveal that 60% of all church members are women. Not only that, but 80% of all intercessors today are women!
4. A dilemma exists! What are women to do who earnestly desire to be "prophetic," but no place seems to be made for them? We need secure men and leaders who will graciously extend a Biblical invitation into full participation in ministry and leadership alongside them to walk in and release this wonderful supernatural anointing. An invitation needs to be extended!
Ministering Women
Women Referred to in Scriptures as Prophetesses:
1. Exodus 15:20 – Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron (one of the three main leaders with Moses and Aaron).
2. Judges 4:4 – Deborah, a prophetess and a judge.
3. II Kings 22:14-20 – Huldah the prophetess and keeper of the wardrobe.
4. Isaiah 8:3 – Isaiah's wife, the prophetess, whose name is not revealed.
5. Luke 2:36-38 – Anna the praying prophetess, present with Simeon the seer at the dedication of Jesus by His parents Joseph and Mary on His eighth day of life. (A man/a women, a seer/a prophetess: equal distribution with unique expressions of the same prophetic presence.) As it was at the first coming, so it will be at the second coming of Jesus as well.
6. Luke 1:39-55 – Elizabeth and Mary. The interchange between these God-fearing women resulted in exuberant praises and prophesying concerning the destiny of Mary's child within.
7. Acts 21:8-9 – Phillip the evangelist had four daughters that prophesied (some translations say "who were prophetesses.")
Other Examples of Biblical Women's Roles:
1. Esther: Godly queen who, through her intercession, saved the Jewish race.
2. Abigail: I Samuel 25 – An advocate who pleaded a case for mercy to David on behalf of her husband.
3. Jael: Judges 4 – She drove a tent peg into Sisera's head and delivered him into the hands of Barak. (Deborah prophesied that the Lord would give Sisera to Barak. God did it through the hands of a woman.)
4. Proverbs 31 Woman: She was involved in household and business issues, bought and sold real estate, ministered to the poor, etc.
5. Woman at the Well: John 4 – Considered by many to be the first evangelist in the Bible as she went forth proclaiming the good news of the Christ (John 4:29).
6. Phoebe: Romans 16:1 – A deaconess who washed the feet of the saints.
7. Priscilla and Aquila: Acts 18:26 – They were probably a husband and wife teaching team, explaining the Word of God with accuracy.
8. Lydia: Acts 16:14-15 – She is noted as the first convert in all of Europe.
9. Mary Magdalene: Matthew 28:1-10 – Women were the first at the tomb, first to hear that "He is risen," and the first to announce His resurrection.
Stepping Forth – Moving Forward
Developing Security:
1. Put down your crutches!
God is removing the false props and crutches that we have used. He wants to relate to each of us first as a son or a daughter – not through another and not primarily centered around giftedness.
2. We have a Father!
Let Him love on you and you back to Him. Let your personal communion with God be your priority!
Breaking Intimidation:
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony of the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us. Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the Cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Romans 8:15 For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, "Abba!...Father!"
I John 4:18 There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].
You must break off the spirit of slavery and its chains of fear of man! We must have no mercy on the enemy – for he has had no mercy on us.
Concluding Admonition: Cultivate Your Unique Expression
We must quit comparing ourselves to one another and quit using someone else's measuring stick on ourselves. Our eyes must be focused on Jesus and our goal is to do and be whatever brings Him pleasure. We are each planted in a garden in the midst of a great variety of flowers. Each has its own color, fragrance, and season of blooming. Our individual life, when lived to the fullest, releases our own unique aroma to the Lord. This collective blend of individual fragrances woos and draws the Spirit's presence to walk among us.
Whether we are a man or women is really not the main issue. Are you being the unique vessel that God has created you to be? Step out of your self-made limitations and be the prophetic person God is longing for you to be!
There are professing Christians who think it their duty to make every other Christian like themselves. This is man's plan, not the plan of God. In the Church of God there is room for characters as varied as are the flowers in a garden. In His spiritual garden there are many varieties of flowers.
Let His unique fragrance come forth from you!
With Gratitude!
James W. Goll
Encounters Network • PrayerStorm • Compassion Acts
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Women have been betrayed as the weaker sex and we are emotional creatures. Many people go back to the garden of Eden when Eve disobeyed God and was convinced by the enemy to partake in the tree that was forbidden. We have been blamed for many of things but God used a woman to carry the very Word, women are important the ministry of Jesus.
Women in Jesus life..
Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna accompanied Jesus during his ministry
Jesus reaches out to unnoticeable women inconspicuous silent suffers who blend into the background are seen by others as negligible entities destined to exist on the fringes of life... Peter's mother-in-law in Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:30-31 and Luke 4:38-39.
Woman who touched Jesus garment Mark 5:25-34
Daughter of Jairus mark 5:35-43
Widow of Nain Luke 7:11-17
Woman bent double Luke 13:10-17
Jesus used women as a model of faith
Widow of Zarephath Luke 4:24-26
The Queen of the South Luke 11:31
Parable of 10 virgins Matthew 25:1-13
The persistent widow Luke 18:18
A poor widows offering Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4
Jesus used women as person of value
Raising the dead John 11:1-44 Lazarus, Luke 7:11-17 Widow son of Nain
Warning against lust in Matthew 5:27-29 with the Sermon on the Mount Jesus expounded upon the Ten commandments. He defends the values of women by equating men's lust to adultery punishable by hell.
Replies
Women have been betrayed as the weaker sex and we are emotional creatures. Many people go back to the garden of Eden when Eve disobeyed God and was convinced by the enemy to partake in the tree that was forbidden. We have been blamed for many of things but God used a woman to carry the very Word, women are important the ministry of Jesus.
Women in Jesus life..
Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna accompanied Jesus during his ministry
Jesus reaches out to unnoticeable women inconspicuous silent suffers who blend into the background are seen by others as negligible entities destined to exist on the fringes of life... Peter's mother-in-law in Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:30-31 and Luke 4:38-39.
Woman who touched Jesus garment Mark 5:25-34
Daughter of Jairus mark 5:35-43
Widow of Nain Luke 7:11-17
Woman bent double Luke 13:10-17
Jesus used women as a model of faith
Widow of Zarephath Luke 4:24-26
The Queen of the South Luke 11:31
Parable of 10 virgins Matthew 25:1-13
The persistent widow Luke 18:18
A poor widows offering Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4
Jesus used women as person of value
Raising the dead John 11:1-44 Lazarus, Luke 7:11-17 Widow son of Nain
Warning against lust in Matthew 5:27-29 with the Sermon on the Mount Jesus expounded upon the Ten commandments. He defends the values of women by equating men's lust to adultery punishable by hell.
Warning against divorce in Matthew 5:31-33