Women Seeking Intimacy with God: Fifty-Two Devotionals of Wisdom and Truth from Women of the Bible

By Helen Holmes

The women of the Bible have a lot that they can say to us today. They not only impacted the nation of Israel but also the world and beyond. Their uniqueness helped to shape the Bible story. They will continue to be remembered for centuries to come.

My purpose in writing a series on women of the Bible is not to retell their stories. I hope you will be inspired to search their stories for yourself. My purpose is that we will gain insight from their strengths and weaknesses that will help us to become more intimate with Jesus and thereby be molded into His image. My heartfelt desire for women is summed up on this verse:

Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you. But make sure you cleanse your life, you sinners, and keep your heart pure and stop doubting. (James 4:8 TPT)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890438737

Book preview

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Women Seeking Intimacy with God

Fifty-Two Devotionals of Wisdom and Truth from Women of the Bible

Helen Holmes

ISBN 979-8-89043-872-0 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89043-873-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Helen Holmes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Day 1

Lady Eve

Day 2

Lady Sarai or Sarah

Day 3

Lady Hagar

Day 4

Lady Rebekah

Day 5

Lady Rebekah Part 2

Day 6

Lady Leah

Day 7

Lady Rachel

Day 8

Lady Tamar

Day 9

Lady Shiphrah and Lady Puah

Day 10

Lady Jochebed

Day 11

Lady Miriam

Day 12

Lady Deborah

Day 13

Lady Jael

Day 14

Lady Delilah

Day 15

Lady Naomi

Day 16

Lady Mrs. Lot

Day 17

Lady Ruth

Day 18

Lady Ruth Part 2—Single-Hearted Devotion

Day 19

Ruth Part 3—Divine Interventions

Day 20

Lady Peninnah

Day 21

Lady Hannah

Day 22

Lady Michal

Day 23

Lady Abigail

Day 24

Lady Bathsheba

Day 25

Lady Jezebel

Day 26

Lady Widow of Zarephath

Day 27

Lady Athaliah

Day 28

Lady Hadassah (aka Esther)

Day 29

Lady Queen Esther Part 2

Day 30

Lady Mrs. Job

Day 31

The Virtuous Woman

Day 32

Lady Gomer

Day 33

Lady Elizabeth

Day 34

Lady Mary

Day 35

Lady Martha

Day 36

Lady Mary, Martha's Sister

Day 37

Lady with an Issue of Blood

Day 38

Lady Anna

Day 39

Lady Herodias

Day 40

Lady Syro-Phoenician Mother

Day 41

Lady of Samaria

Day 42

Lady Sapphira

Day 43

Lady Lydia

Day 44

Lady Mary Magdalene

Day 45

Lady Lois and Lady Eunice

Day 46

Lady Johnnie Mae Johnson

Day 47

Lady Priscilla

Day 48

Lady Tabitha, aka Dorcas

Day 49

Lady Phoebe

Day 50

Day 51

Lady Euodias and Lady Syntyche

Day 52

Lady Mary, Mother of John Mark

Acknowledgements

About the Author

This book is dedicated to a couple of people who impacted my life in a powerful way. The first one is my second born son who departed this life in October, 2018. His name is Gregory (Greg) Stuart Neasley. Greg was the baby of the family for nine years, then came a sister and another brother. As far as Greg was concerned he was always the baby. He didn't say this but it was his expectation. God warned me a month before Greg's sudden death due to an aneurysm or stroke. I did not understand what the warning was about but it prepared me for his departure. I went through the stages of grief. But at the feeling of guilt stage, God said to me, the best thing that you could have done for your children was to bring them to me. Greg accepted Christ at the age of nine. I gave birth to four children and I'm grateful to God, they all have accepted Christ.

A smile comes across my face when I think of my big sister, Min. Johnnie Mae Johnson. She was my only sister. She departed this life in January, 2022. She was my BFF, my confidant and my fellow laborer in ministry. We supported and encouraged each other in the ups and downs of life. Always reminding each other of what the Word says in light of our situation.

I miss these two individuals and look forward to our reunion in heaven.

Foreword

When Helen contacted me to ask me to write a foreword for her upcoming book that is based on the Christian blogs she has written, I was happy to put into words how much I appreciated and anticipated her weekly writings. I knew that Helen is a godly woman before I ever met her. I worked with her husband for several years and gleaned from conversations we had about our families that she is a compassionate, intelligent woman who puts Christ first in her decision-making. When I had the good fortune to meet her, my view of her was confirmed. And when I learned that she was writing weekly blogs called Women Seeking Intimacy with God, I wanted to be on her mailing list. Each Monday, I opened my emails and looked for her wisdom for the week. Her writings were uplifting and encouraging and applicable for the journey through this life that we all find ourselves upon. My eyes were opened as she wrote about the women in the Bible who experienced some of the same trials and tribulations that we women face today. Through it all, God's grace shone through the lives of those women and encouraged me with whatever situation I found myself at the time. Sometimes, it was simply a blog of praise and reminded me of the many blessings that we enjoy and are able to share with others.

I am looking forward with much anticipation to being able to find Helen's blogs in book form and keep it handy for instant lessons from this godly and loving woman.

Joy Hart

I can say, without a doubt, that this book of devotions helped me through some of the toughest seasons of my life. Every devotional I read aligned with where I was spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. It felt as though the author was writing directly to me. I am so honored to have tasted the goodness of Women Seeking Intimacy with God, and I know you will be touched by it too.

Ashanti Watson

Introduction

I was called into the ministry in 1995. I taught in my local church and accepted speaking engagements in other local churches, nonprofits and once at a baccalaureate event.

In 2007, during my quiet time with the Lord, the faces of five local women with whom I had attended church about 30 years previous to that time. I heard these words, "I want you to do for the single moms what those ladies did for you while you were a single mom. I was a single mom in between marriages. I attended church with these older ladies who loved me and my two little boys. Plus, they exemplified the lifestyle of devout Christian ladies. They each played a different role in my life. What they all had in common was the way they loved me and my boys.

In that year I founded (SMILE) Single Moms Inspired to Live with Excellence. The Lord gave me the acronym S.M.I.L.E. and told me to teach them from the book of Ephesians. My goal was to teach them who they were in Christ and guide them to develop a personal intimate relationship with him.

All of my ministry efforts since then is to encourage women to come close to God, and God will come close to you. (James 4:8a NLT)

I began blogging in 2019. I entitled it Women Seeking Intimacy with God. In 2021, I was led to blog about the women of the Bible. After writing and posting on my website and social media, I felt the unction to publish a book using the blogs I had written in 2021.

What you are about to read is the result of much prayer, study, meditating, and writing what I believe God had inspired me to write.

The women of the Bible have a lot to say to us today. They impacted the nation of Israel but also the world and beyond. Their uniqueness helped to shape the Bible story. They will continue to be remembered for centuries to come.

My purpose in writing a series on women of the Bible is not to retell their story. I suggest you read the Bible to get their full story. Hopefully, this will inspire you to search out their story. As I embarked on this journey, my focus was on one or two things we could learn from these ladies.

This is a side issue. Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000 or the 4,000. He gathered up the fragments. He threw nothing away. That's the way he handles our lives, the good, the bad and the ugly. In scripture, He told the whole story. So, we can learn from the good things they did as well as the bad. Actually, that applies to our lives too.

Let nothing be wasted in your life. Learn and grow from the good and the bad things that happen in your life. Don't waste your time being ashamed of the things that happened in your life or being condemned. Use it to grow. God loves and accepts you regardless. You're His daughter, the apple of his eye. I can hear Jesus tell the woman caught in adultery, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. Read John 8:11b.

It gave me abundant joy looking deep into the lives of these ladies. I was able to see in the Old Testament how God orchestrated the events of their lives. As I looked, I could see how everything was preparing the way for Jesus to come to the earth. In the New Testament, he used the women to help build and advance the gospel of the kingdom.

Day 1

Lady Eve

And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

—Genesis 1:26–27

Adam was the first man that God created. Eve was the first woman God made to be a companion and helper to Adam. I see God acting as Eve's father when He gives her hand in marriage to the groom, Adam. There was no preacher to say, Who gives this woman… but I can imagine God's heart was beaming as He presented His masterpiece to Adam.

What can we learn from Lady Eve? One thing that I had to come to terms with is that Eve was first influenced by her lustful desires. In other words, she succumbed to the temptations of Satan because she was eyeing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan, in all his subtlety, seized the opportunity to mislead her. Read Genesis chapter 3.

What can we learn? Number 1, don't have a conversation with the devil. Don't try to reason with what you know is wrong. Don't try to justify what the Word clearly says is sin. Number 2, if you know you have a weakness in certain areas, separate yourself from it or him. Eve was already at the tree. Why, Eve? You know what God said!

A high school teacher once told me, If you play with fire, you'll get burned. If you play with trash, you'll get it in your eye. If you lay down with a dog, you'll get up with fleas. I was entertaining a young man that I knew was too experienced for me. I needed that warning. He went on to get another girl pregnant.

Temptation is not a sin. Yielding is the sin. Jesus was tempted by the same devil with the same temptations with which Eve was