From: Maria Magruder-Taylor
[maria@alaskaalliance.org]
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2000 10:17 PM
To: Jose and Mary Alvarez
Subject: Hello from Chad's wife...
Woman Of The Last Hour
By Maria Magruder-Taylor
This is the hour for
the woman to arise, "the first shall be last and the last shall be
first!" Women have been considered last since the fall of man. In this
hour the woman shall be first. This began when Jesus crossed the boundaries,
customs and cultures of man, ministering, discipling and teaching women.
Women have been pushed
down even to this present hour. They have been held back, and looked down upon
as less, when God never intended for them to be. Where in His Word does it say,
"women are lesser"? Religion has put women in a box, when He intended
for man and woman to be one, one in unity and one in purpose. "Fill up and
complete my joy by living in harmony and being of the same mind AND ONE IN
PURPOSE…" (Phil 2:2) Its been acceptable for the church to send women out
to the frontlines as missionaries. At home they are Sunday school teachers or
intercessors, religion has put limits on women! There is no limit to God’s Spirit.
For this is the last
hour, the time of harvest, the last preparation, and He is looking for those
who will work in His vineyard. As He looks to and fro for workers for His
vineyard He has found many of His women standing idle. Now He asks them,
"Why do you stand here idle all day?" His women reply, "Because
nobody has hired us." (Matt. 20:6 &7) God’s women have been idle for
too long! They have been confined in the pews for years! God knows they have
maintained a servant’s heart that has been clothed in humility. Now He desires
to bring them forth in this hour, to raise them up, for they have been faithful
with little now God is trusting them with more. Yes, faithful to the Body of
Christ they have been.
It was the women who
came with the anointing before and after the resurrection. An anointing that
was considered a waste by man, but praised and considered of great value by
Christ Himself. (Matt 26:7) Jesus even gave the women the first gospel message
yet their claim of His resurrection was mocked by the Apostles. (Luke 24:22)
Will you mock His
women in this hour with the message He has deposited in their hearts? These
women who have been considered less, who have been pushed down and confined are
the very ones who have and will continue to keep His church together. They have
kept the Body of Christ together by their devotion to Him simply sitting at His
feet. He will reward them in this hour the same ‘denarius’s’ that all the other
vineyard workers will receive. (Matt 20:9)
He is causing the
women to rise up with equal rank in the anointing and power of His Spirit to do
His work. (Matt 20: 12) "Arise and shine for your light has come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon you…" (Isaiah 60:1) There is no line of
gender here. In this hour those that have been pushed aside and considered
lowly will be exalted. "…and those members of the body, which we think to
be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor and our uncomely
parts have more abundant comeliness…" (1 Cor 12:23-25)
The first shall be
last and the last shall be first… (Matt 20:16)
God is calling you,
women, out to the vineyard. Are you ready to work?
www.alaskaalliance.org/retreat
Maria
Magruder-Taylor
www.alaskaalliance.org