While there are many who say that women cannot receive from God that which will benefit men as they believe that all wisdom that God has for mankind must come through the agency of a man, may I remind us today that the Wisdom of God \u2013 God Himself came into the world through a woman. The vessel that He used that was meant to bring benefit to all of mankind through the good news of the gospel in the face of the Savior, was a lowly servant who was a woman.<\/p>\n
There are some today who refuse to accept God\u2019s gift that comes through a woman. Their pride will not allow them to benefit from anything that they believe is beneath them. \u00a0They practice hardening their hearts because they do not want to see and do not want to hear what originates from a woman. God cannot use a woman to preach and teach the gospel to the church, they say, because God is pleased to limit Himself to only men who by virtue of their maleness are fit to receive God\u2019s special gifts that equip only males as teachers and gentle shepherds of God\u2019s people. To them God\u2019s best is always a man. God\u2019s best is the wisdom of a man. God\u2019s best is the strength of a man. To them God cannot and will not use what is foolish or weak or insignificant, inferior, common or despised. \u00a0 God limits His work through the chosen gender who are the physically and spiritually \u201cstrong\u201d ones and God surely sanctions male pride because He created them as first class citizens of the kingdom. \u00a0Is it not the complementarian message that it is through males alone that God can fully express Himself in wisdom, power and leadership?<\/p>\n
But God has a surprise. God does not work that way.<\/p>\n
\n1 Cor 1:27 \u00a0but God has chosen the foolish things<\/em><\/strong> of the world to shame the wise<\/em><\/strong>, and God has chosen the weak things<\/em><\/strong> of the world to shame the things which are strong<\/em><\/strong>,<\/p>\n1 Cor 1:28 \u00a0and the base things<\/em><\/strong> of the world and the despised God has chosen<\/em><\/strong>, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,<\/p>\n1 Cor 1:29 \u00a0so that no man may boast before God.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
God has selected for Himself the rejected. He has chosen to represent Himself by those who are despised and who are looked down on as insignificant and inferior. God is pleased to use them for His glory.<\/p>\n
Those who harbor a pride because of their gender are set up for shame. God will bypass them and use the ones who are considered weak and who have suffered disdain, scorn, contempt and rejection.<\/p>\n
Where will you stand this Christmas? Will you lift up the male gender as the privileged ones? Or will you look past what is on the outside and see the precious gift of God that lives within many apparently weak vessels?<\/p>\n
![\"Receive](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas-girl.jpg?resize=267%2C400\")
<\/p>\n
God has a gift this season which is available to those who will humbly receive. Will you accept God\u2019s best gift as it is offered to you from those who has been rejected and despised by men? Or will you turn your back on God\u2019s way and follow the way of the proud and the strong by saying that you do not need such a despised vessel to teach you anything?<\/p>\n
May the outworking of God\u2019s gifts through His Holy Spirit within all of us be used for the benefit of the body of Christ. \u00a0May also the\u00a0joy of this Christmas season find a place in your heart as you grow to love and accept all of the body parts, even the ones who are the least presentable in the body of Christ.<\/p>\n
Merry Christmas<\/em> to everyone who has been such a wonderful support for this Women in Ministry blog. You are much appreciated for the gifts that you bring me through your support and your wonderful comments.<\/p>\n![\"Cheryl](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/cheryl-sig.jpg?resize=255%2C89\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While there are many who say that women cannot receive from God that which will benefit men as they believe that all wisdom that God has for mankind must come through the agency of a man, may I remind us today that the Wisdom of God \u2013 God Himself came into the world through a woman. The vessel that He used that was meant to bring benefit to all of mankind through the good news of the gospel in the…<\/p>\n
Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,14,31,43,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-authority-and-leadership","category-authority-and-women","category-egalitarian-vs-complementarian","category-injustice-towards-women","category-women-serving-in-the-church"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nAt the first Christmas, God was pleased to come through a woman - Women in Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At the first Christmas, God was pleased to come through a woman - Women in Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While there are many who say that women cannot receive from God that which will benefit men as they believe that all wisdom that God has for mankind must come through the agency of a man, may I remind us today that the Wisdom of God \u2013 God Himself came into the world through a woman. The vessel that He used that was meant to bring benefit to all of mankind through the good news of the gospel in the... Read More Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Women in Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-21T23:55:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-10-20T03:25:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cheryl Schatz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cheryl Schatz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/\",\"name\":\"At the first Christmas, God was pleased to come through a woman - Women in Ministry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-21T23:55:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-10-20T03:25:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#\/schema\/person\/47288f9588a290ab288bfdfb9c4eef29\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"At the first Christmas, God was pleased to come through a woman\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/\",\"name\":\"Women in Ministry\",\"description\":\"This blog is for dialogue on the issue of women in ministry and the freedom for women to teach the bible in a public setting. It is also for questions and answers on our DVD entitled \u201cWomen in Ministry: Silenced or Set Free?\u201d This 4 DVD set answers the hard passages of scripture that seem to restrict women\u2019s ministry.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#\/schema\/person\/47288f9588a290ab288bfdfb9c4eef29\",\"name\":\"Cheryl Schatz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/efbf589c4a731d44dfcc39bcc33b901d?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/efbf589c4a731d44dfcc39bcc33b901d?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cheryl Schatz\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/mmoutreach.org\/wim\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/author\/b692nplyxipl362mwh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"At the first Christmas, God was pleased to come through a woman - Women in Ministry","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"At the first Christmas, God was pleased to come through a woman - Women in Ministry","og_description":"While there are many who say that women cannot receive from God that which will benefit men as they believe that all wisdom that God has for mankind must come through the agency of a man, may I remind us today that the Wisdom of God \u2013 God Himself came into the world through a woman. The vessel that He used that was meant to bring benefit to all of mankind through the good news of the gospel in the... Read More Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/","og_site_name":"Women in Ministry","article_published_time":"2009-12-21T23:55:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-10-20T03:25:08+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Cheryl Schatz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cheryl Schatz","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/","url":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/","name":"At the first Christmas, God was pleased to come through a woman - Women in Ministry","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg","datePublished":"2009-12-21T23:55:47+00:00","dateModified":"2015-10-20T03:25:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#\/schema\/person\/47288f9588a290ab288bfdfb9c4eef29"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2009\/12\/21\/first-christmas-god-came-through-woman\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"At the first Christmas, God was pleased to come through a woman"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/","name":"Women in Ministry","description":"This blog is for dialogue on the issue of women in ministry and the freedom for women to teach the bible in a public setting. It is also for questions and answers on our DVD entitled \u201cWomen in Ministry: Silenced or Set Free?\u201d This 4 DVD set answers the hard passages of scripture that seem to restrict women\u2019s ministry.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#\/schema\/person\/47288f9588a290ab288bfdfb9c4eef29","name":"Cheryl Schatz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/efbf589c4a731d44dfcc39bcc33b901d?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/efbf589c4a731d44dfcc39bcc33b901d?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Cheryl Schatz"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/mmoutreach.org\/wim"],"url":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/author\/b692nplyxipl362mwh\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6wpJ8-sn","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4078,"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions\/4078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"God](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mmoutreach.org\/wim\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/christmas2.jpg?resize=446%2C307\")
<\/p>\n