Elizabeth George - A Woman After Gods Own Heart®

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked ASV are taken from the American Standard Version of the Bible.

Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, Copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.

Italicized text in Scripture quotations indicates authors emphasis.

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Cover design by Aesthetic Soup, Shakoppe, Minnesota

Cover illustration Pingwin/iStock

A WOMAN AFTER GODS OWN HEART is a registered trademark of The Hawkins Childrens LLC. Harvest House Publishers, Inc., is the exclusive licensee of the federally registered trademark A WOMAN AFTER GODS OWN HEART.

A WOMAN AFTER GODS OWN HEART

Copyright 1997/2006 by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

George, Elizabeth, 1944 . A woman after Gods own heart / Elizabeth George.

p. cm.

Trade Edition: ISBN 978-0-7369-5962-9

eBook Edition: ISBN 978-0-7369-5963-6

1. WomenPrayer-books and devotionsEnglish. 2. Christian womenReligious life. 3. WomenConduct of life. I. Title.

BV4844.G43 1997 9645436

248.8'43dc21

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To my cherished friends and daughters Katherine George Zaengle and Courtney George Seitz, who share my deep desire to be women after Gods own heart.

As always, thank you to my dear husband, Jim George, M.Div., Th.M., for your able assistance, guidance, suggestions, and loving encouragement on this project.

Contents

Her Husband

Her Children

Her Home

Herself

Her Ministry

G od knows how deeply humbled I am each time someone like you writes to let me know how He has used His truths in A Woman After Gods Own Heart to positively impact you, your family, your home, and your love for Him. His truths are truly transforming (John 17:17)! And He also knows how blessed I am when someone like you brings a tattered and torn, dirt-darkened, tearstained, coffee-splattered, dog-eared, doodled-on-by-your-children book through a line for me to autograph. As I always say, The best book is a used book!

Well, my dear reading friend, at lastthanks to Harvest House Publishersthis wonderful updated and expanded edition of A Woman After Gods Own Heart is now available! Its debut was prompted by women like you who have heard me speak from this book or studied through my video Bible These women asked about the additional insights I now share in person or on CD that reflect my growth and understanding of practicing Gods priorities for the years that have passed since I wrote this book. This new edition is just for youto read and reread, to carry with your Bible, to take along in your backpack or carry-on (or diaper bag, as the case may be!), to study with friends, to leave on your nightstand as a refresher, and to bless and encourage others as a life-changing gift.

Its wonderful being a woman after Gods own heart, isnt it? To know Him. To love Him. To enrich the lives of others. To follow Himand to enjoy the blessings He extends to us when we do. No womans life could be more satisfying than the life enjoyed by a woman after His own heart, a woman whose hearts desire is to do Gods will (Acts 13:22)! May God richly bless you and yours as you continue to follow after Him.

In His everlasting love,

I magine living life so that people thought of each of ustoday and long after were goneas a woman after Gods own heart!

Thousands of years after he walked this earth, we still think of King Davidthe faithful shepherd boy who slew Goliath, the warrior who mercifully spared King Sauls life on more than one occasion, the king who danced with joy as the Ark of the Covenant was returned to Jerusalemas a man after Gods own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22)!

Before you protest, But Im hardly in King Davids category! let me remind you that he was far from perfect. (For instance, does the name Bathsheba ring a bell?) Despite his tendency to forget to consult God, despite his cold-blooded arrangements to murder Uriah so he could marry Bathsheba, and despite his less than solid parenting, David has been given the title man after Gods own heart. I find that very encouraging as I continue on the path of being a woman after Gods own heart.

I also find encouraging the fact that this path is, in the words of Richard Foster, the path of disciplined Grace. He goes on to explain:

It is discipline, because there is work for us to do. It is Grace, because the life of God which we enter into is a gift which we can never earn.Discipline in and of itself does not make us righteous, it merely places us before God.The transformationis Gods work.

Our transformation into being a woman after Gods own heart is indeed Gods work. But what I offer here are the disciplines we can follow to place ourselves before Goddisciplines regarding our devotional life, our personal growth, our home, our marriage and family, and our ministryso that He can do that work in our heart. Youll find practical insights about what it means to follow God in every area of life, insights about nurturing an impassioned relationship with God, experiencing personal growth, caring for your home, loving your husband, enjoying your children, and giving to others. The journey is an exciting one, and youll find much joy along the way. So I welcome you to join me as each of us seeks to be the woman God calls usand will empower usto be, a woman after His own heart.

But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

LUKE 10:42

I had done it thousands of times before, but two days ago it was different. Im talking about the walk I take each day in the dewy part of the morning. As I moved through my neighborhood I noticed a womanprobably in her late seventieswalking on the sidewalk by the park. She had an aluminum walker and appeared to have suffered a stroke. She was also a little bent over, a telltale sign of osteoporosis.