Devotional -- 40 Days Women of Faith in the Bible: The Enigma: How God uses Men and Women to Accomplish His Plans

By Cherub Nicholls

This book on Women of Faith features women in different situations, some of whom faced tremendous difficulties at different stages in their lives. This book relays conflicts, barrenness, illnesses, healing, love, romance, poverty, wealth, influence, power, faithfulness, definitions of faith, hospitality, and the arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised "seed" designated "to bruise the head of the serpent." Promises kept! Most of all it shows how the women in the text overcame their challenges with resilience, tenacity, and faith in God.
This is a wonderful work. It is impressive, inspiring for generations. A legacy of hope!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098358952

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United States of America

Copyright © 2021 by Cherub Angela Nicholls

Devotional

40 Days

Women of Faith in the Bible

The Enigma:

How God uses Men and Women to Accomplish His Plans

by Cherub Angela Nicholls

Printed in the United States of America

America ISBN

IBSN 978-1-09835-894-5 (print) | ISBN 978-1-09835-895-2 (eBook)

All rights reserved solely by the author. The author guarantees all contents are original and do not infringe upon the legal rights of any other person or work. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author. The views expressed in this book are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Scripture quotations from the Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV), Hendrickson Bibles, Printed in China, by R. R. Donnelley, Fifteenth Edition, June 2015.

Bible Gateway.com, multiple translations.

Amplified Bible Classic Jewish Bible (AMPC)

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

Good News Translations (GNT)

King James Version (KJV)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New King Kames Version (NKJV)

The Message (MSG)

Permissions ….

Scriptures taken from the King James Version (KJV). Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures taken from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Taken from the Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern. Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, 6120 Day Long Lane, Clarksville, MD 21029. www.messianicjewish.net.

Scripture taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are from The Message.Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Preface

How timely that we should have a devotional book, focusing on the women of the Bible given to us in a day when almost the first words given to us after God’s supernatural act of creation were, "MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM" have been rejected by so many. These powerful words following the creation of mankind are frequently belittled, ignored, trampled upon, and even rejected these days.

We so often read of the Patriarchs and prophets – all great men of God – but now we have women to learn from, to emulate, and to examples to pray into our own lives.

Starting with Eve – and her I’ll do it my way act of disobedience, Cherub takes us through some 40 days of the experiences of biblical women and retells their story in such a way that we can apply lessons to our own lives and grow deeper in understanding the love and ways of God.

Each woman has a special message that many of us [women] have missed, but one can hope that men too might read, ponder, pray, and meditate through this devotional book – for He indeed made us both.

Cherub has a real love for the LORD and wants us all not only to bring up our families in the same fear of the LORD that she has and – even if we are single or widowed – her words of wisdom can teach deeply about real relationships. This devotional book focuses on women of the Bible – most of who are in some sort of relationship with men – and they too can learn much from their wisdom, strength, and faithfulness. Cherub is surely a woman of valour as Proverbs 31 recounts – In Hebrew an EshetHa’il, which can be translated as a warrior woman who truly runs her household in the most amazing way – but whose final accolade is "Charm is deceitful and beauty vain BUT A WOMAN WHO FEARS THE LORD, SHE SHALL, BE PRAISED." Proverbs 31:30

Gemma Blech – Jerusalem 2019

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1

Lessons from Eve:

Paradigms from Eve for Future Generations

Chapter 2

The Wives of the Patriarchs:

Their Trials and Triumphs as They Embraced Destiny

Chapter 3

The Widows and Orphans Club:

God Uses Poor and Vulnerable Women to Make a Difference

Chapter 4

Women of Wealth and Influence – Everyone Qualifies Equally:

How God Uses Women of Influence

Chapter 5

Special Women – The Barren, the Warriors, and Others:

Age is Just a Number

Chapter 6

Women with Appointed Destinies:

Their Hearts are in the Right Place

Chapter 7

The Women who Sought Jesus:

How Jewish and Non-Jewish Women Embraced Faith

Chapter 8

The Power of Faith:

The Forgotten Women Accounted For

Conclusion

Epilogue

Selected Scriptures for Your Consideration

Endnotes

Acknowledgments

It is not often one gets the incredible opportunity to help make a difference in the lives of others. Writing this classic work on women and men who played viable roles, together, to fulfil God’s plans for their lives shows us, through a myriad of ways, how to raise our game to ensure that we ourselves, would do likewise, in our generations. The key is Tenacity!

Following in the footsteps of trail blazers is not easy, but we know that God has the blueprint for each of our lives so it is incumbent on us to find our purpose by going to Him and getting the download from Him, then it is necessary for us to turn around and ask for His help as to how to get the task done, and guidance as to when we will need to do the work. The key is Reliance!

I acknowledge this work is fruit of the grace and wisdom of God. I relied totally and heavily on Him. He, in turn, guided me, and granted me the information contained herein and allowed me to write my name at the end of each day’s devotional. It is wonderful to be working with the Lord.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my husband, Eleazer, of twenty-nine years. His full support allows me to do whatever the Lord assigns me to do. He understands that God has appointed seasons so he has released me to live out my purpose lest the time of our visitation passes by. We must finish our assignments!

I would like to thank our sons, Gabriel and his beautiful bride, Brya, and Michael and his beautiful wife, Tanya. Thanks also to Deanna my South African prayer partner as well as all the other friends who have prayed and in particular one friend Donncristy, who has asked me, for several years, to write a Devotional.

I would like to thank those who have contributed to this project. Thanks Gemma, I do appreciate your very insightful Preface. I value your candid perspective and the manner in which you have helped to encourage both men and women to get their lives together, while they have the opportunity.

To Caroline, your gift of artistry is above excellence. The pictures of the 20 days are so relevant that God has used you to capture His mind to draw to His readers the wonderful and relatable profiles of the women we’ll read about, herein. These pictures play a very critical role in the messaging.

To my friend Julie, when we met in Israel in the fall of 2018 at the wonderful Shabbat Dinner, we never knew we would meet again in Nassau Bahamas a few months later, in April 2019.

I have had so many other friends, including Sis Marva, Sis Charmaine, Tricia, Allison, Anna, and Felicity, who stood with me in giving prayer support and warm encouragement. Thanks for all the persons who personally sacrificed and contributed financially to the publication of this work. To each of you I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude.

Have fun as you read!

PS: In the fall of 2020 Caroline completed her great art work. Here, she showcases the character in the women. As a graduate student, Caroline’s own personal sacrifice to assist me is a testament of the fact that women in every generation do rise to the occasion.

COVID-19 in 2020: This virus which resulted in a pandemic has taken the lives of over one million men and women, globally. It has singlehandedly upended the world order. The result is there is a leap toward a New World Order (NWO). However, God is Lord of all.

The fact that we are alive today is an opportunity to do something good for another person, whether it’s just a word of encouragement. Women let’s arise and work!

Cherub, January, 2021.

Introduction

Of late, I have contended, numerous times, that we were not sent to the world to be tourists. God placed us here to fulfil a destiny, an assignment, a task; these are sometimes lumped together in one word: Purpose! In this book, we will peruse biblical history and will see what both men and women did when they dealt with their challenging circumstances.

Learning from these important, historical accounts are critical for us in our generation as they will help us to cope with life’s challenges while endeavouring to complete God’s mandate for our lives. There is a wealth of knowledge to be gleaned from these women. We will study their past and our present, the rich and poor, their pain and suffering, their fears and unbelief, their decisions and their victories. This book is for your encouragement. Don’t quit!

The objective of this text is to help us, the readers, to pause long enough to go beyond reading and to ponder, and seek what is in God’s mind for us through each of the stories we will peruse. Very often, mankind misses this key moment in the split second of life’s opportunities and decision making process. We don’t want that to happen to you.

This book contains forty (40) days of Devotional. It is appropriate for you and your entire family. It reflects the geo-religious and geo-political dynamics in ancient Israel. The stories relate to poverty, barrenness, sickness, widowhood, hospitality, death and resurrection, debt and provision, wealth, power and influence, as well as the impact of these factors on the key personalities featured. It also includes the fulfilment of a covenant by God following His promise of the seed of the woman. We also see on display, in the texts, love, resilience, tenacity, faithfulness, faith and courage. We will also take a look at a victim of sexual abuse.

The book’s artistic renditions help bring to life some of the women described in the various stories. You can see how the artist has captured the facial expressions and the home environments of the people. Her gift of artistry was guided by her dependency on the Holy Spirit. The Lord knew these people then, He knew how they looked. He knew them because He was the One behind their conquering experiences. He also knows you!

You are invited to trust the Lord, and so this book will help stimulate your faith in God. It will also help you to be confident that in every situation you face, be assured, that the Lord is able to defend you, deliver you, help you, comfort you, provide for you, shower you with His love, and answer your calls to Him. The Lord’s love and loyalty surpass everything you know.

Do give your heart to the Lord. Give Him responsibility for your life and see how well He will take care of you. Thus, the text contains the actual Scriptures under study for the specific day and a prayer at the end of each day’s discussion. This demonstrates God’s concerns for you.

No matter what you may be going through, never forget, this one message: God loves you! He proved it when He sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, into the world to die for your sins, for my sins (John 3:16). I have accepted His