Anna is introduced in Luke chapter 2:36-38 which reads: 36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the rede

Shiphrah and Puah’s story takes place in Exodus 1 when the Hebrews were still slaves in Egypt under Pharaoh. As with many of the women that God uses, He gives them names and a starring role in his plans which defies the societal norms of their time. I personally think this is by design. I think God wanted to highlight out these obedient women and make their stories shine and show how he is using them in a bigger picture. Exodus 1:15-21 reads 15 The king of Egypt said to the H

In Genesis, Noah’s wife is mentioned 5 times but never by name.  Many scholars believe she is Naaman from Genesis 4:22. The five verses are -  Genesis 6:18 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. Genesis 7:7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Genesis 7:13 13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japh

A little history before we dive in here. Now, I have shared about Abaraham in a few podcasts which ties into the verse that I am about to share. God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 is “ And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” This promise is why I have had the opportunity to mention him multiple times. This promise impacts nations and it is going to be fulfilled by his son, Isaac. During this tim

Did you know that there are 5 women listed in the Geneology of Christ in Matthew Chapter 1? There is Mary, the mother of Jesus, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and the mother of Solomon (Bathsehba but she is not named) Let me set some context here.  Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience.  Jesus was born into a Jewish family but the 4 women named outside of Mary were not Jewish, they were considered Gentiles. Why do you think this is?  In this day and age, Genealogy and bloodline is VERY

Hagar is first introduced in Genesis 16.  She is the Egyptian slave to Sarah, Abraham’s wife. As you listen to this passage, keep in mind that Sarah’s name was changed from Sarai to Sarah and Abraham’s name was changed from Abram to Abraham, so it can get confusing.  Let’s go back a few chapters to Genesis 12 to set the stage here for our story on Hagar. God told Abraham he would make a great nation from him.  He does not have any children and at this point Sarai is suffering

In Acts 9, we are introduced to a woman named Dorcas or Tabitha in Hebrew. Verse 36 it shares 36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, in Greek her name is Dorcas, she was always doing good and helping the poor. We see here that Luke, the author of Acts, calls her a disciple and that she was always doing good and helping the poor.  What stood out to me in this verse is the word always.  Always   doing good is quite a challenge for most of us.  Being mentioned here by L

Before we get to Rachel, let me set the stage.  Abraham’s son, Isaac and his wife Rebekah had twin sons, Esau and Jacob.  Isaac favored Esau and Rebekah favored Jacob. Isaac sends Jacob to Rebekah’s brother (whose name is Laban) to find a wife. Isaac wanted to make sure that their children stayed in their lineage.  Following so far? Little laugh We first meet Rachel in Genesis 29 when Jacob happens upon her as she is about to water her father's flock. She was the second daugh

Joanna is often a forgotten disciple of Christ.  You don’t hear much about her and today I want to take a look at her and give her some recognition and focus. We first see Joanna in Luke 8:2-3 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. Here w

Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a forerunner of Jesus and spent his life preaching about Jesus.  He also famously baptized Jesus.  Let’s look at his mother, Elizabeth and maybe a different side of her story.  We first hear of Elizabeth in Luke 1:5-7 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righte

Eunice and Lois are mentioned only once in the Bible in 2 Timothy Chapter 1,  yet there is so much that we can learn from them and their impact on Timothy. Remember (or feel free to research) the relationship between Paul and Timothy.  Paul first met Timothy in the city of Lystra.  Timothy was well respected by his peers and was a strong Christian man.  Paul instantly took a liking to Timothy and chose him to travel with him on his second missionary journey. Paul writes two l

Deborah is one of my favorite women in the Bible.  We see her in Judges chapter 4 and 5. Deborah  was awesome!  To set the stage, she was not only a prophet but also a judge, a warrior, a poet, as well as a singer and songwriter!  Wow, just wow!  Think about the time period!  A woman doing all this at this time is very unusual! She is the only female judge mentioned in the Bible and the only other person that was a prophet and a judge was Samuel. Deborah was one of the only f

Miriam is mentioned 3 times in the Bible as a main character. We first see her in Exodus 2 then later in Exodus 15 and lastly in Numbers 12. Miriam is mainly recognized as the woman who saves the life of her brother Moses but as we find out, she is much more than that. First off,  She was one of seven prophetesses in the Bible. Her name means “bitter” which was a reflection of the time she was born and the bitterness of the conditions. The first time she is mentioned is in Ex

Lydia is mentioned just once in the Bible in Acts 16.  She is an amazing woman that I think we need to get to know better.  First of all, Lydia's conversion (accepting Christ) is historical because she is considered the first person recorded to have accepted Christ in Europe!  Now that is big! Up to this point, the gospel had not gone further west than Asia minor.  The Apostle Paul originally was planning on staying in Asia but God sent him a vision calling him to go west acr