This is the Hour!
As God delivers His church from the bondage of tradition and culture—and from fallen man’s doctrine of divine order—we will see men and women function together to build godly homes and to fulfill God’s purpose for the building of His kingdom. When redemption cleanses us from the desire to rule, man and woman will not be threatened by each other, but will welcome each other’s godly counsel. This is the hour. (Fuchsia Pickett, Women of Destiny™ Bible, Copyright © 2000 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
This is a new day, a new season when God is calling His church to cast down old traditions that held women in bondage to traditions that made God’s Word ineffective. Man has taught that women can’t preach; that women can’t hold ministerial offices. This teaching has hindered the church from achieving unity and reaching its full potential. God’s plan since the beginning has been that men and women would work side by side respecting and honoring one another as equals in the kingdom of God. Together we are to make a symphony, a harmonious sound throughout the earth. This is the hour to restore God’s original plan for man and woman.
Genesis 1:26-28 (RSV)
26
- Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
27
- So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28
- And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
God blessed them – man and woman. Together they are to have dominion over all the earth. In the New Testament Paul revealed that “in Christ there is neither male nor female.” I knew this scripture and quoted it many times, but it was years before I could apply this scripture personally. Each of us, both men and women, must deal with unresolved issues of the soul that have prevented us from walking in harmony. The soul has difficulty letting go of tradition. When I was a young teen I realized that the church usually respected women ministers who went to the mission fields, but frowned on women who were called to pastor a local church. They could be licensed, but never ordained, and for years I struggled with the call of God on my life. As my mind was renewed, the engrafted word saved my soul bringing freedom from the bondage of tradition.
Up until then tradition and feelings of inferiority hindered me. The male professor who was my counselor told me that because I was short in stature that I could never teach high school or college level English and Literature, which was my passionate desire. My dad, who apologized in his latter years, greatly discouraged a college education. Do I blame these men for my insecurities and fears? No, their messages only confirmed my own perception about men and women. Based on what I had seen and been taught I judged women as “less than” men. After all, men were to rule over them. (That was not God’s plan. Woman gives the power of headship to the one she worships and looks to for provision and protection.) On the outside I stayed in my place, but on the inside my spirit was vexed and I wondered why I was born a girl, even believed that I was a mistake.
This misbelief hindered me from standing shoulder to shoulder with men and women in ministry, even after I submitted to the call of God on my life. Others wondered why I couldn’t enjoy my successes and accomplishments. I was always striving, pushing, and climbing the ladder of perfectionism, secretly feeling unworthy. When I was in the presence of ministers, feelings of inferiority would have to be pushed down, but they didn’t go away until my wrong belief system was replaced with Truth.
A feeling of inferiority opens the door for other misbeliefs. To survive, the person with a sense of unworthiness and inferiority has to find others who appear “less than.” Then a feeling of superiority appears hampering good relationships and ministry. God has provided salvation, healing, forgiveness, restoration and wholeness, which will save and restore the soul. In the name of Jesus, bind your mind and your heart to the Word, which becomes an integral part of your DNA, and loose wrong perceptions and the religious traditions that robbed you of your joy from your thought life. Meditation on the Word and positive self-talk will renew your mind and you will experience the love of God that passes all understanding. You were created by Him and for His good pleasure.
If you are struggling with a feeling of inferiority, ask the Holy Spirit to locate the origin of this feeling, and heal all the past hurts and expose all the wrong perceptions about who He created you to be in Christ Jesus. Inferiority is rooted in self-rejection. I encourage you to pray the prayer in Prayers That Avail Much, Overcoming a Feeling of Rejection. Submit to God, and resist the devil that reinforces feelings of inferiority and rejection. Repeat the statements listed at the end of the prayer each day as often and as long as necessary. You will see yourself as God sees you, an extraordinary, capable, intelligent person.
- ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
Isaiah 60:1 (AMP)
This is a new day, a new season. Ask the Father to open the eyes of your understanding and give you the courage to stand in freedom and liberty. Become more intimately acquainted with Jesus; to know him is to know the Father. Commune with the Holy Spirit and you will fulfill your destiny. The Great Commission is given to everyone—both man and woman.
This is the hour!
Copyright © 2005, Germaine Copeland
Germaine Copeland is the author of the best selling book series, Prayers That Avail Much. She has written scriptural prayers for the family. Read your Bible, pray and attend church where you can soak up the love and faith of God. You will receive emotional healing, experience spiritual growth and become more intimately acquainted with your Heavenly Father, and your relationships will grow stronger.