6.24.2010

Day 3 - Diary of Well Women - "The Preacher's Wife lost on Fantasy Island"

DAY 3 - Diary of Well Women - "The Preacher's Wife lost on Fantasy Island"


Virtuous writes:

I was just curious. What makes women flock to preachers. What do they feel they will gain by throwing themselves at them or making sure they let the Man of God know that they are willing and available to do whatever they want.What is so exciting about these preachers. It doesn't seem to matter what they look like or have sometimes, they just want them. What makes the Man of God so weak and vulnerable to her advances? What makes them willing to take a chance and lose everything, the wife, kids, home, ministry. Their even willing to take a chance on losing their personal one on one relationship with God. Men of God, what is it? Women, what is your problem?


Virtuous
A Well Woman
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RESPONSE by Minister Tracy Curtis

Let me start with the women. The "fantasy" of being connected to a preacher is no different from the "groupie" mentality that many women exude when throwing themselves at celebraties.

Even if the preacher is not well known... the "idea" of being the "preacher's wife" is alluring to many women.

Unfortunately, this comes from a place of insecurity and misplaced identity or lack of identity and individuality. What I mean is, a woman must know who she is FIRST before she connects with any man or she will be a "ball and chain" that holds him back or a "leech" that sucks the life out of him.

It is as simple as the "groupie complex".




"I'm sure some women who have never followed thru with their fantasy have at least "fantasized" for a moment or many moments in their mind.

Welcome to the mind....fantasy island... the place where your fantasies come true."


Remember the word "fan" is short for fanatic.

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Now let's address what's happening with the men.

Not all preachers are easily lured / tempted. And not all succomb. But those who do... well it is as simple as this:

A person is tempted when he/she is lured and enticed by his/her own desire. (James 1:14)

A fish takes the bait because it WANTS something. Whatever that want or desire is will be the very thing that they will be tempted in and lured away from ministry, family and relationship with God.

Satan was unsuccesful in tempting Jesus' flesh because Jesus' desire was to please God.(John 4:34)

He could only be "tempted" into pleasing God more today than yesterday. LOL

When our hidden or secret desires are not dealt with, they become our own bait.

Going back to the fantasy island idea; some preachers are like Mr. Rourke. Their "desire" is POWER. They know how to attract persons who are not living in reality and then make that person's fantasies come true. This makes them feel powerful. They know they sit in a position of power and well, power can corrupt and absolute power can corrupt absolutely.



"I have the power to make you happy or sad"....
"I have the power to allow or even encourage you to follow me around"...
"I have the power to control how I feel about you while your emotions go out of control"
"I have the power to increase your desire for me by allowing you to do things for me that I shouldn't allow"

Instead of resisting, they allow far too many things to take place.

And just like Tatoo was always by Mr. Rourke's side, there is always the demon of pride next to the Man of God who is or is becoming consumed with his "power" that his position has given him over a person with uncontrolled desire for him.

God will only hold him responsible for his actions (what he influences, suggests and/or allows and his re-actions to the "bait" (woman.) He will cannot be held responsible for what they do.

BOTH the preacher and the woman are tempted/lured by their own lusts for pride and acceptance and both will be consumed by it if they don't identify it, confront it, and conquer it.


~Minister Tracy Curtis~
"One day, I also met Jesus at the well"

T.A.G. Ministries, International
Website: tagministry.ning.com

Day 2 - Diary of a Well Woman: "A Fatherless Father's Day"

Day 2 - Diary of a Well Woman - "A FATHERLESS FATHER'S DAY"




Melissa says:

My father was not around when I was growing up. I was so jealous of the other kids who had dads that would come to school. Now, I'm an adult and I still don't have a father. I know it sounds weird, but even as an adult, I still yearn for a father...my father.

What should I do on Fathers day? I don't have a dad.

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Minister Tracy responds:

Melissa, I know how you feel. I was raised by my mother and yearned to have a father present everyday. Although my father was alive, I was fatherless each Father's Day. It wasn't until I became an adult that I realized that I was never really without a father. It wasn't until I learned something so very very important that I was comforted. I will share some if with you today.

You know, this topic reminds me of a conversation that I had a friend about the difference between a dad and a father. People use those terms interchangeably. Whatever term you use it is more than the person who just "beget" or "sired" you. We, as humans, have the inner desire for the one who created us. Whether that is our biological parents or...our heavenly Creator or Father in heaven. And when either is or seems to be missing, then that longing is never satisfied.

But Melissa, only one of those I just described might leave you alone....

You may not have a physical father but God is a Father to the fatherless.

When you are feeling "fatherless" think of this scripture:

Psalm 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.


Listen to this song:

Father to the Fatherless" by Jason Upton

Melissa, have you ever felt as if your relationship with your father was like a game of hide and seek? You were seeking him, wanting his presence and it seemed as if he was hiding somewhere. Well our heavenly Father is not hiding from you. As a matter of fact, there is no place that you can go to hide from him. All those days and years that you did not have a physical father present your God, our heavenly Father was ALWAYS there. Always watching over you. There is no place you can go and be alone or isolated from His presence.


Psalm 139:7-12
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.



Not only that but a Father spends time with his child and KNOWS his child intimately. I know what it is like to seek the intimacy of a father and not have it. But Melissa, our heavenly Father knows us intimately!


Psalm 139:1-6
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.


Sometimes our father's are not around because they have passed away or maybe they are workaholics and are there physically but not emotionally or maybe have gone off to war. With all of His choices, God choose to stay when He could very well have left after you were conceived and born.


Psalm 139:13-16

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.


He was there while you were moving around in your mother's womb and He has been right there with you all the time; even when you didn't think He was there...and He is there still.

So this week, activate your free will and CHOOSE to take this Fathers Day to not embrace the sadness of your biological father's absence. Instead, realize, celebrate and honor your Heavenly Father. Thank Him for using your biological father to create you.


Go make plans to celebrate with someone who has been a father figure to you. Surprise them with a father's day card. I remember one year I gave my mom a father's day card because she was both mother and father to me as a child. Be creative this Father's Day.


Know that the Father has heard you and hears you when you pray...

Listen to this song
Father Can You Hear Me?

Know that God will restore the years that you have lost. I am happy to say that I am getting to know my earthly father little by little. But, I never forget that my heavenly Father, loves me more than any mother or father could ever and in that I am always comforted whenever I remember my childhood.

Here are some suggested scriptures to think about this Father's Day:
Matthew 6:9, Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6

Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend!


~Minister Tracy Curtis~
"One day, I met Jesus at the well too"

T.A.G. Ministries, International
Website: tagministry.ning.com

6.18.2010

Day 1 - Diary of Well Women - "Jesus are you really real?"

"Jesus are you really real?"



JACKIE writes:

Today, I woke up wondering, "Will today be like yesterday's yesterday?" Will I finally experience true happiness or will the cycle of dissatisfaction continue as my relationships seem like a hotel with a revolving door...people check in but they rarely stay.

That preacher was on TV last night talking about Jesus loves me. Why in the world would Jesus love me? Doesn't he know the things I've done? Doesn't he know what has been done to me? Doesn't he know who I really am? I'm like an emotional Nazi hiding in a country after my concentration camp was invaded. No one knows who I really am. No one knows my shame. No one knows my pain. No one knows that I'm wounded from the war within that has been raging since I was gang molested as a child. No one knows...

But something that preacher said last night... I ... I just can't get it out of my head. He said Jesus loves me... the real me. It was as if he saw who I really was. As if... he knew everything that happened in my life. The things I have told no one.

Jesus... are you real? Are you really real? Can you hear my thoughts? I'm afraid to speak out loud...someone might hear me praying. Can you hear me?

I just need someone who can hear the words I don't speak.

I'm in pain Jesus. But I can't tell anyone about it.

It hurts, its lonely, its scary.

My happiness isn't really real. Its like a cold popsicle, it satisfies for a moment and then...its gone.

Is happiness real?

When I was a kid they told me about Santa Claus... but Santa aint real.

When I was a kid they told me about the Easter Bunny...but that bunny aint real

Jesus, are you really real?

~Jackie, Well Woman~


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Listen to the song: JESUS IS REAL

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RESPONSE FROM MINISTER TRACY CURTIS:

My dear Jackie, here is a bottle of water. You look thirsty. Go ahead. Drink up. While you are drinking, let me share something with you.

My sister, I can only tell you that Jesus IS real.

He is more than an experience.

He is more than a feeling.

He is more than just knowledge in your head.

Even though you don't understand gravity, even though you can't see gravity, the evidence of the existence of gravity is all around you. If you don't believe me, stand on a chair and jump off. You will never just float or fly away. You will always fall to the floor. That is the evidence of existence of gravity. Go ahead, try it.

The evidence of Jesus' existence is all around you my sister. He will remove the feelings of guilt from your past when you accept the fact that he has not only forgiven you of your past actions but has also forgotten what you've done. The painful memories your experience is you replaying those moments in your mind. You are choosing to stay in your past. Jesus wants to move you out of that place into fullness of joy. But he won't force you to do it.

You want happiness, Jesus offers you wholeness. Happiness is contingent upon events and feelings. Something goes wrong, you're not happy anymore. But with Jesus, wholeness provides an assurance, a confidence that even when something goes wrong, you know that he has total control and your life is in the palm of his hand...no one can pluck you out of his hand.

Unlike the people you've experienced, Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. Your life is not a like a hotel to him. Once he checks in, he doesn't leave...he won't go back out thru the revolving door. He wants to come in and sup with you, abide with you, live with you for all eternity. Jesus is not only the truth but he is trustworthy.

He knows your thoughts before you even think them. So, yes, he hears your unspoken words. He sees the tears you cry when no one is around, he hears your silent screams.


Let him comfort your hurting heart. Let him show you the real you...the you that you hide from others. He sees past your representative ... the person that smiles to everyone but is crying and dying on the inside. He sees the REAL you.

Know this...Jesus is REAL and he sees, knows and loves the REAL you.

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Listen to this song: YOU ARE MY JOY
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~Minister Tracy Curtis~
"One day, I met Jesus at the well"