The Journey Begins

Show Notes

In the premier episode of Raising Godly Women, your host, Sebra Ferrell, introduces you to the topic for the upcoming season of RGW podcast.   
 
In this episode:

·       Intro 

·       More about the host (01:21)

·       The vision for RGW and how the podcast came about (2:55)

·       The topic for this first season:  the parable of the sower and the seed (4:12)

·       Naming each soil (8:19)

·       Final thoughts (15:10)

·       The pearl of wisdom for this episode (16:10)

·       Thank you for listening (16:26)

Scriptures references:

Titus 2:3-4

Matthew 13:18-23

Mark 4:13-20

Luke 8:11-15

Website:  https://raisinggodlywomen.buzzsprout.com/    

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Transcript

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Season 1 - Episode 1:  The Journey Begins

Sebra: [00:00:00] Hi, my name is Sebra Ferrell, and I would like to welcome you to the Raising Godly Women podcast. I know. Why another podcast? Well, Raising Godly Women is about empowering a generation of women to empower the generation behind them. But what exactly does empowerment look like? Our goal is to help you become stronger, to help you become more confident in your everyday life, especially as it relates to your relationship with the Lord. 

As daughters of God, I'm sure you've heard about the Proverbs 31 woman and many of us, including me, we strive to be her. But what about the Titus 2 woman? She's that woman who shares what she's learned on her journey. She freely shares the tools God has given her with other women, especially those who are younger, maybe in age, or maybe even in faith to help them also become stronger and more confident.

The [00:01:00] Titus 2 woman, she's what Raising Godly Women is all about. Our goal is to share some of our tools with you in the hopes that whatever God does for you here, that you will freely share it with someone else. So again, welcome to Raising Godly Women. We sure hope you enjoy your journey with us.

In today's episode, I'd like to introduce you to the topic for our first series of episodes. My name is Sebra Ferrell, and you're probably asking, "Who is this woman? "While I could rattle off my life story, that's not the most important thing. I think the most important thing about me is that I'm an everyday woman with a passion for the Lord.

I spent much of my young adult years in the Air Force, finding myself. And while I was serving, I truly met Jesus as the Lord of my life. Then in 2002, as I prepared to transition out of the military, I [00:02:00] asked the Lord, what did he want me to do with my life? I had never asked him that question before. One day, I was in my car, and I felt his call to do two things: minister to his daughters and to reconcile mothers to daughters.

That was very intimidating for me. One, because I didn't like women, and two, I barely had a relationship with my own daughters. So to hear those two things within my spirit, I knew they could not have come from me because those were not things that I would do naturally. Well, in 2005, the ministry to his daughters began when he gave the vision for small group Bible study. And it was in this Bible study that Raising Godly Women first came into existence. 

The vision for RGW came from Titus chapter two, [00:03:00] verse four. This is where the older women are told to teach the younger women. In order to make that happen, we launched Raising Godly Women in 2011. At that time, the moms would bring in their daughters in March, June, and September, so that the daughters could learn from the older women. Over time, a lot of things happened. A lot of life happened. People came and went. The original daughters grew up, and quite honestly, I lost my zeal for a lot of things, to include Raising Godly Women. 

Eventually, God breathed new life into me for Raising Godly Women. So I asked him, how did he want me to re-engage? Well, as they say, be careful what you ask for, because he might just answer. And he did. And I'm very grateful that he did because he sent a young woman my way who suggested this [00:04:00] podcast, and with some nudging by God and those in my inner circle, the Raising Godly Women podcast was born. So welcome to the very first episode of the very first season. 

In this series of episodes, I'm going to introduce you to something very near and very dear to my heart. Everybody that knows me can answer this question. It is the Parable of the Sower and the Seed. You can find this parable in Matthew 13, in Mark chapter 4, and in Luke chapter 8. In 2009, I did an in-depth study on this parable. Granted, this wasn't the first time I had ever heard about this parable, but it wasn't until I actually did this study and broke down what Scripture was saying that I actually began to understand it. And this understanding changed [00:05:00] my life.

It changed my relationship with God. It changed my relationship with myself and it changed my relationship with others, especially when life gets hard, and it does get hard. I had a very explosive temper. That was my main problem in life. When life hurt, I would explode. We all have times when life hurts. And I have to say, understanding the value of this parable has helped to lessen some of that pain.

 After all, if we really peel everything back and boil everything down to what is this parable saying to us, the message is about how we respond to hearing God's Word, whether it's from Scripture, a sermon, or someone God sends our way, like this young woman who introduced the concept of doing [00:06:00] a podcast to me. So I'd have to say the most important thing I've learned is to recognize the value in being able to see myself in this parable whenever life hurts, so I can navigate my way towards God, rather than away from him, when life feels like more than I can handle. 

As with all things, there are times when I still feel lost. There are times when, for the life of me, I cannot figure out where I am in the soils, but once I do know where I am, I usually can find my way through that trial. And I think, I hope, I pray with a lot less of the destructive anger that I used to deal with. 

But even though what I had learned, it was really helping me, I was having the hardest time explaining it to others in a way that was meaningful to them. Then, one night, the Holy Spirit [00:07:00] had me give each soil a name. And then he led me to some pictures that kind of represented the essence of each of these soils that had now become women, because they now had names. It was that night that the women of the Parable of the Sower and the Seed was born. You'll hear more about that in the next episode with my guest speaker who actually helped bring these women to life. Then, in the episodes that follow, we'll take a closer look at each one of these soils individually, at each one of these women.

And in these episodes, I, and others, will share some of our experiences and some of the things that we have learned when we've been one or more of these women. And just so you don't feel totally lost in the conversation when you hear these women's names floating around, I'm going to close this episode [00:08:00] with the short version of how we envision these women, along with our first pearl of wisdom that I hope you will tuck into your tool belt for daily living.

So don't worry if you don't catch all of it, because you can find these descriptions by visiting Raising Godly Women on Facebook or on Instagram. Until then, sit back for a moment and allow me to introduce you to Wayside Wendy, Rocky Raquel, Thorny Theresa, and Good Ground Gabrielle, affectionately known as GiGi; and the person that is joining me in the next episode, you can thank her for that, because she actually named Gabrielle, GiGi. 

So let's meet these women. First up, we have Wayside Wendy. Her nickname is actually "Path Patty," because in some versions, the translation actually says this soil is where the seed fell along the path. [00:09:00] However, because our translation said wayside, that's how we refer to her. The woman represented by this soil lacks understanding. So when she hears the Word, the devil, immediately comes and snatches the Word right out of her heart. 

Even if Wendy takes notes, her lack of understanding will keep her from being able to put into practice the things she writes down. In other words, Wendy gains a lot of knowledge, but she doesn't know how to apply what she learns to her daily life. Thus, understanding is one of the words that describes what Wendy needs in order to mature in her walk with God.

Unlike Wayside Wendy, there are times Rocky Raquel can understand Scripture. She may not understand everything, but she does get excited about what makes sense to her. However, [00:10:00] because the soil of her heart contains stones, think rocky, the soil of her heart contains stones, the Word can't take root. These stones are things that Raquel holds near and dear to her heart, such as unforgiveness, bitterness, pride, and things like this.

Raquel may not know she's holding onto these things. However, there are things that she's not ready, or maybe she's not willing to surrender them to the Lordship of Christ. And that causes her heart to get hard towards any Scriptures that challenge her. Therefore, Raquel can receive the Word with joy, and she can even obey what she likes, but without a root system that can stabilize her, then what she heard results in tribulation, which just means trials, persecution, which simply means being mistreated for [00:11:00] what you believe, or temptation, she rejects the Scripture. Her rejection causes her to immediately stumble. What that means is she no longer obeys what she understands. What Raquel might not know is what she's facing is actually a test of her faith.

For every time we hear the Word, the devil, the enemy of our soul, will come to steal it. Every. Time. If he's unable to steal it, he will bring a challenge in the hopes that she will doubt it. Therefore, Raquel has to be willing to surrender her entire life to Christ, her thoughts, her plans, her emotions, and yes, even her stones, all of them have to come under the Lordship of Jesus. So, obedience and submission, those are [00:12:00] two words that describe what Raquel needs in order to mature in her walk with Christ. 

Now, let's move on to Thorny Theresa. She, on the other hand, understands a good bit of Scripture, and she can obey things that maybe Rocky couldn't obey, things that might cause Raquel to stumble. Overall, Theresa, she's a more mature believer. Since she has a relatively good understanding of Scripture, she can obey God, for a season, in her own strength. As a result, she's actually able to withstand a few of life storms. She even begins to produce fruit on the seeds of God's Word that have been planted in her heart, but that fruit fails to mature.

Others can usually tell that Theresa believes in Jesus. She may be successful in her marriage, in her career. She may just look like she has it [00:13:00] all together. But, inside Theresa may be feeling a little overwhelmed. Theresa actually knows how to wear a beautiful mask, but time can wear her down. Because she hasn't dealt with all the deep issues in her heart- the childhood trauma, disappointments, hurts, rejections, you name it -she finds herself going around mountains she thought she'd conquered again and again, and over time, she gets what we call "faith weary." That's when the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and or the pleasures of life that are at the root of what's weighing on Theresa's heart will choke out the Word. So with Theresa trust in the Lord is one phrase that describes what she needs in order to fully mature in her faith. 

Now, last but not least, we have Good Ground Gabrielle. So GiGi has an honest and a good heart. [00:14:00] Therefore, she's able to accept even the hard truth of God's Word . Because she is patient, GiGi keeps the Word in her heart. She not only understands the Word, but she is also able to produce mature fruit on it. As a matter of fact, the impact of the Word in her life is exponential. Her harvest can be 100, 60, or 30 times more than what went in. Practically speaking, this means over time, it's hard for people to believe Gigi when she shares her testimony, because she literally no longer looks like the person she used to be.

Yes, Gigi has challenges like everybody else, but because she is rooted and grounded in Christ, she faces those difficulties with grace. She learns the lesson of each trial. However, Gigi is also aware that the fruit she produces is not just for [00:15:00] her. Ultimately, what God does in her life should flow through her to save souls, transform lives, and benefit God's kingdom. 

Now that you've heard our rendition of what each of these women look like, based on how each of these soils is described in Scripture, I encourage you to read the parable for yourself. And as you read, consider doing these two things. One, write down what you learn about each one of these soils. Then, in the episodes that follow, as we delve more deeply into each one of these women, you can decide for yourself how what we share lines up with what you learned.

The second thing to consider is, if this isn't already second nature for you, because it took me a long time to really learn how to do this, and sometimes I even still fail to do it. So, if this isn't second nature for you, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to recognize yourself in each [00:16:00] of these soils, as each of these women, because I can honestly say, I don't know anything more empowering than to be able to see ourselves in Scripture.

Until we meet again, I would like to leave you with this pearl of wisdom: the parable of the sower and the seed taught me that I do not have to be a slave to my emotions. That's something to ponder. 

Khara: Thank you for listening to the Raising Godly Women Podcast and taking this journey with us to be the Titus 2 women. We pray that the seeds of God's Word shared today fell on great soil and that soil is in your heart. Now, we hope that through these pearls of wisdom that you have gained the tools to help you become stronger, to help you become more confident in your everyday life, most, especially as it relates to your walk with the Lord. We also hope that you will share your tools with those who are younger in age, or even maybe younger in faith to help them become [00:17:00] stronger and confident as well, so that they can help share with other women, passing the Baton to the generation behind them.

Just imagine the ripple effect our sharing can have, not only in our generation, but also the generations to come to build and strengthen the body of Christ as we all come together to empower each other. So, until we meet again, feel free to join the Raising Godly Women community. Let's talk about your connection with this episode on social media in the comment section. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at Raising Godly Women. Be sure to tag us, because we love to have you connect and be a part of the family. And on that note, may the Lord hear from you and keep you, may he make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may the Lord shine his face towards you and give you peace. Shalom daughters of God. Shalom.