Speaking in Virginia

I had the extreme honor of speaking to 200 women at the Prince of 
Peace Luncheon in Virginia this spring.
 It was such a pleasure to meet so many beautiful women of God, I was truly blessed by this experience. 
I have been asked to post some of the message that I brought to the luncheon, so here it is.

        

If someone asked you right now, today,

 who are you? 

What would your answer be? 

I have been asked in various interviews, who is Rebecca Ersfeld?

 I have been told by writers that it is a very difficult question for people to answer and to take my time. I needed no time at all, because I know exactly who I am.

I am a woman who loves the Heavenly Father and I am after his heart. All that I do comes from that statement. I am a child of the Living God through Jesus Christ.

I grew up in a loving home with parents who loved the Lord, I do not remember a time when I didn’t have a relationship with my Lord and Savior. 

My father was a graphic artist and my mother was a housewife. 

We attended the Lutheran Free church and we were very active in it. When I was going into my teen years, my father got his degree and stepped out in faith to start his own church. 

My mother has been a reflection of love and faithfulness and still is my mentor.

My father is now gone from this earth but continues to be an inspiration to my spiritual life and my artistic endeavors. 

I did not choose an easy road for myself. Life happens. My father always said I was rebellious… 

I was.

 But God has turned that into a free spirit. 

Our greatest strengths very often can also be our greatest weakness and a stumbling block, 

Very often we use our strengths or gifts in our own strength, instead of depending on God.

The bible says we can do NOTHING without Christ. 

We need to depend on Him in all things.

Not only when we are weak but when things are going good too. 

When you are in your element… doing  those things that come easy - do you leave God out of it. 

Or do you say to the Lord, Thank you Father for it is well with my soul… teach me your ways God, I want to go further in you. I don’t want to depend on me… even when I think I know it all.

It has taken me a few years to learn that. I’m still learning that! 

I like to take something and run with it. I’ve always got that next best thing stewing in my thoughts. 

God gave me a creative mind but it can be my worst enemy if I don’t give it over to God.

 I like to keep moving and have 50 irons in the fire. 

Many times I get ahead of myself and God.

 Do you ever do that? 

Did you know that God is never in a hurry. 

He never pushes the panic button. He has His own timing and it usually is timed to the last second… it strengthens our faith which works patience in us. 

Another word for patience is endurance… staying power.

 To keep the faith and endure your walk with Christ. 

Every woman here today has God’s calling on her life… no matter where you came from, who you are today, what you have or haven’t done. 

God is calling you to a walk with him. 

Our journey begins with accepting the calling of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. 

He calls us and what we choose to do with that calling is up to us. 

In John 3 Jesus told Nicodemus except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. 

What is the Kingdom of God? 

Is it up in heaven and some day we will go there to sit on a cloud and play a harp… NO! 

The Kingdom of God is where the King is!

 The Kingdom of God goes with us. 

The Kingdom of God is here on earth, it dwells in us through the very spirit of God that He puts in us. 

 We bring the Kingdom of God to earth, 

we as women of God have the Kingdom in us and where ever we go, the world should know that the kingdom of heaven was here! That’s what Jesus did and we are called to that same walk. 

Jesus said, in John  the works he did you shall do also, and greater works shall you do. 

Where ever Jesus walked, people saw the Kingdom of Heaven, through his works. 

When Jesus spoke it was pertaining to the Kingdom of Heaven, in you. He was talking to you, the beautiful woman who loves the Lord.

II Cor. 4:7 refers to us as clay vessels or pots, made to hold the spirit of God. The clay pot comes in all shapes and sizes, some beautiful some very utilitarian, but all for one purpose, to hold something. Because it isn’t all about the vessel, is it? It is all about what the vessel holds. It is all about knowing what is inside us and walking in that spirit. Do you look in the mirror and just see the clay pot all dirty and maybe a little too round…

Or do you see the beautiful woman of God that you are. 
The vessel that holds the living spirit of God!

The next time you look into a mirror, you say…  
you lovely woman of God!
 I am a precious vessel… 

In Romans it says, that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us, and gives us life eternal.  If you believe in Christ and ask him to dwell in you, you are an eternal being.  

You bring the Kingdom of heaven with you, where ever you go.  

God calls us to a Kingdom walk through His Spirit, He gives us the power to walk in victory here on earth.  

Now does that mean we never fail? 

No! But it does mean we have the power in Christ that when we do fail, he can use that for good. 

He can turn it around and use it for his glory. 

And why is that… because he loves you. He wants to reveal himself to you in ways you haven’t even dreamed of… and many times when we fail it gives God a chance to show us what He can do. I don't even call it failure... I call it a learning process... when we go through adversities or challenges it is the chance to see God in our lives. 

He loves you with an everlasting love, beloved. 

He sees you as the beautiful person you are in the spirit. 

You see, the spirit in you is the pure image of Christ and that is what God sees when he looks at you. 

You are a woman of God, you are loved by God. 

We need to start looking with our spiritual eyes, that is our reality. 

Christ walked in the reality of the kingdom of heaven … 
He brought down heaven here on earth… 

this is important now… he was not subject to the laws of this earth. He totally relied on the Father in heaven, which gave Him power on earth through the Kingdom of Heaven. He brought down the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and walked in it through the father and the laws of heaven.

He has called us to walk in that same manner. 

He sees through the mess we make of our lives and loves us just the way we are.

I love the story of  the Samaritan woman at the well… 

Jesus knew her… he cared for her… he ministered to her without judgment.

The pure Jew of that time hated the mixed race of the Samaritans they didn’t want anything to do with them, they even had an alternate route to go around the city even though it was longer.  

Jesus saw the need and it didn’t matter what foolish religious prejudice men had created.  

Jesus had a mission to talk to the woman at the well. 

Now she was there in the middle of the day to avoid the other women, it was the custom to draw water in the morning and evening. 

She had 3 strikes against her… She was a woman, a Samaritan woman and a Samaritan woman with a bad reputation. 

 Even the Samaritan women wouldn’t have any thing to do with her, let alone a Jewish man. 

But Jesus cared for her, and God had a calling on her life. 

He saw her with his spiritual eyes and looked into the heart and need of the woman. He didn’t go by the laws of this earth, he relied on the reality of the kingdom. 

That day, the woman at the well was changed for life. She was seeking things that couldn’t satisfy but Jesus gave her living water that welled up in her and flowed over to spread the word that Christ has something better  and many came into the kingdom that day because of that first woman evangelist!  

I can relate to this woman, for one she has dealt with 5 husbands, I have dealt with 3… and yet God chose me, before all my bad choices, God saw me perfected, He loved me just as I was.

As a woman of God my roles have changed throughout  the years, just as God is ever changing but yet the same.  

He has blessed me with 6 children and 8 grandchildren.  I will always have that role but I have now been promoted to administration rather than assembly line.

 I now have time to develop more of my artistic desires. 

Not that art hasn’t always been a part of my life. 

It is intertwined in who I am. 

God gifted me with certain desires and talents as he does for all of us. 

There were different times in my life where that talent was used in different ways. 

At times it was more utilitarian, like making and designing clothes for my girls or for relaxation and  therapy after a hectic day. 

But it always came from my heart which was inspired by the Holy Spirit, because that is who I am. After my children left it came to the forefront and I turned my talents into a business. 

For the past 20 years I have been involved in different aspects of retail and design.  

My shops were focused on antiques and décor but they always were a creative outlet. 

Throughout the years I have enjoyed being published in several different magazines and HGTV.  I am still involved in that aspect with my home today. 

My last shop Vintage Living, where I met Connie focused more on art and workshops.  It was exactly what I wanted in a shop. It had all the makings of what I thought a shop should be.

I found a way of bringing my art to life and putting the focus on God and art. 

The Lord gave me this verse for the shop, it was John 15, I am the vine ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. 

That whole 15th chapter spoke to my heart and I began to hang on to that word. Vintage Living came forth and produced fruit in me to pass on to others. 

The word Vintage is defined as “ a season’s produce of grapes, wine of high quality from the year of a person’s work, a superior harvest… classic mature.”  

I want to be that mature work that the Lord speaks of… a Vintage woman of God!

Vintage Living is now closed because the Lord has brought me into another season of work.  

My art and workshops now focus on the journey God has for me and how we can glorify God through our art by telling our story through art. 

This has not been an easy journey, but it has been a good one. 

It is well with my soul… 

God brought me to a place where I can lay down my work, it can die so God can live. 

I don’t want it, if it isn’t the Lord’s. 

Everything that I have is his… My house, my car, my garden, my children, my art… it is all his! 

My hands… are his! The work of my hands are his… did you know there are over 1600 references to hands in the bible. 

The Lord is concerned with what your hands are doing! 

Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established… Proverbs.16:3

Do you think when you are doing the laundry or washing dishes, that it isn’t important. How many tasks do you do a day that you think are not important. 

When is the art of your life not important? 

When do you get to be happy? 

Is it only when you are in the studio, or when you think you are doing something great. Am I only happy when I am creating or talking with my friends or family? 

If it is so, then I am not a very happy person most of the time. 

When, as a women, is it good with your soul? 

I have news for you lovely women of God… 

it is all about the journey. 

It is all about the details of life that make the tapestry of art that we call life. 

If we allow the Holy Spirit to design every detail of our life, then we are able to say… 

it is good with my soul - dear Lord! 

If God is in the details of your life, it is all important.

I hope you get a glimpse today of just how much God loves you, just the way you are and in every detail of your journey he wants to be there. 

As you are washing the dishes or washing your hair, he even knows how many you have on your head.

Do you think he is not interested? He is waiting for you all the day long, He loves you. He calls to you. He loves you with an everlasting love. Commit your journey to Him and He will direct your paths into a journey you couldn‘t even imagine.

A special thank you to Connie for giving me the chance to express what God has laid on my heart.

 Blessings
Rebecca