The Portrait of a Godly Mother
Rahab, the Former Harlot
• Joshua 2:9-13 Rahab’s confession that God is the only true God.
• Joshua 6:25 Rahab rewarded for hiding the spies.
• By acknowledging God, Rahab’s life was completely turned around. She was a sinner saved by grace now a new creation. Old things have passed away and everything is now new.
Ruth, the Foreign Widow
• Ruth 1:16-17 Ruth forsakes all.
• Ruth 2:10-12 Boaz heard how Ruth left everything to follow God.
• Ruth 4:5-6 The nearest kinsman redeemer rejects Ruth and Boaz marries Ruth.
• Matthew 1:5 Rahab married Salmon and became the mother of Boaz, the great grandpa of King David and ancestor of Jesus.
Bathsheba, the Adulteress
• 2 Samuel 11:2-5 Bathsheba’s great mistake
• I Kings 1:1-31 Adonijah tries to claim the throne. Bathsheba confronts David about his promise to Solomon.
• Bathsheba did not let her past mistakes ruin her future. Given a second chance, she made the right decision to stand up for what is right.
• I Kings 3:3-14 Solomon asks for wisdom. God grants it. Solomon known as the wisest man
Abi, Unequally Yolked
• 2 Kings 16: 2-4 King Ahaz’s wicked deeds
• 2 Kings 18:1-5 Hezekiah’s righteous acts
• Never underestimate a mother’s influence. The Bible warns us of being unequally yoked with an unbeliever. If your spouse is not saved, all is not lost. Living right, praying, and teaching the Bible to our children can shield them from the devil’s influence.
Hagar, the Single Abandoned Mother
• Genesis 15:1-6 God’s covenant with Abraham
• Genesis 16:4 Hagar conceives and despises Sarah
• Genesis 16:5-11 Sarah mistreats Hagar. Hagar runs away. Hagar returns and submits.
• Genesis 21:9-21 Isaac is born and Ishmael mocks Isaac. Sarah sends them away for good.
• Genesis 37:28 Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites. Israel would be preserved in the famine.
• Abandoned by man but rescued by God.
Sarah, the Impatient Princess
• Genesis 16:1-3 Sarah tries to help God out by giving Hagar to Abraham as a wife/birth a child.
• Genesis 18:11-14 Abraham has 3 visitors. Sarah laughs at the prophecy.
• Genesis 21:1-8 The promise is fulfilled. Isaac is born.
• Hebrews 11:11 Sarah receives strength (miracle working power) because she judged God faithful.
• Sarah learned that she couldn’t help God. She would have to wait on the Holy Ghost and allow him to work through her, change her, and fix what was broken.
Hannah, Barren and Broken and Persistent
• I Samuel 1:5-7 Hannah was favored but barren. Peninnah provoked her sore year after year. Hannah wept and did not eat.
•** I Samuel 1:12-20** Hannah vowed. Prayed fervently. Eli misunderstood. God remembered Hannah.
• I Samuel 3:1-4, 19 God calls Samuel. Samuel learns to pray. As the prophet, none of his words fell to the ground. Samuel was the last prophet before the people of Israel chose a king.
• I Samuel 7:8-10 Samuel prayed and God answered and smote an army.
• Hannah’s mantle of persistent prayer influenced Samuel’s prayer life and God answered his prayers.
Mary, God’s Chosen
• Luke 1:26-33 The angel appears to Mary and tells her she has found favor with God and will give birth to a son.
• Luke 1:34-38 Mary questions how can this be possible since she was a virgin. He answered that the Holy Ghost will come on her and overshadow her.
• Luke 1:39-45 Mary visits Elisabeth. The baby leaps in Elisabeth’s womb and was filled with the Holy Ghost.
• Matthew 1:18-25 Mary tells Joseph and gets a different response. Joseph finds it hard to believe that Mary is God’s chosen handmaiden to give birth to the Messiah. He decides to send her away privately, as not to embarrass her or him and to save her life. An angel visits him and confirms what Mary says. Joseph cancels his plans and continues with the wedding.
• Matthew 1:23 Isaiah prophesied that a virgin would give birth to a child and name him, Emmanuel
• Luke 2:1-30 Jesus is born. Shepherds saw a host of angels in the sky. Wise men followed a bright star to the manger and brought the baby gifts. It was a glorious celebration but short-lived.
• Matthew 2:13-18 Herod learns of the new kings birth and orders for all the male babies to be killed. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream to warn him and instruct Joseph to go to Eqypt. The child is saved but many children died that night.
• Jesus grows, becomes a man, and starts his own ministry. He fasts 40 days and mighty miracles begin to happen. The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and the dead are raised.
• But just as quick as his ministry takes off, the Pharisees are filled with envy and seek to kill him. After years of trying to trap him, the Pharisees finally get their opportunity. They pay Judas, Jesus’ own disciple and friend, to betray him. Imagine the heart break of the other disciples, the women who supported the ministry, and his mother, Mary. They broke bread together, prayed together, went to church together. They all saw the mighty miracles and marveled at his teachings as they sat at his feet.
• Then the unthinkable happens. Christ is crucified and Mary is overwhelmed with grief as she watches her son beaten and die.
• Mary was chosen but her life was filled with ups and downs. She experienced the most glorious moments and endured the deepest of pain.
• We know this wasn’t the end. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. Mary was in the upper room on the day of Pentecost and tongues of fire appeared above their heads.
• But what kept Mary? She had an encounter with God and was persuaded that God was the one true God, that Jesus was the Messiah, that the Holy Ghost will work the impossible, and that her faith was on solid ground. She fixed her eyes on Jesus, looking unto Him, the author and finisher of our faith.
• And, she leaves us an example of how to be a woman of great faith. It’s what all these mothers did, taught faith to their children. Her children will rise and call her blessed. (Prov 31)
2 Timothy 1:4-5 KJV
4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;
5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee (Timothy), which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.