As a believer in Christ, victory belongs to you. The good works you are going to perform are already ordained for you. Breathe in and step out. Do what God tells you to do and He will do the rest.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In Daddy’s Delight, Dr. Karia Bunting reminds women that they are God’s workmanship, His masterpiece, His “poema”. That God has intricately woven together every fiber of their being and created each one special and unique. That God, having completed His work of art, gave her to mankind as a gift.
Evident in this great care God took in fashioning woman is the importance and value of each one. So why do so many women struggle with God’s design, wishing they could change just this or that one thing about themselves?
Dr. Bunting challenges each reader to accept and embrace the truth that, regardless of what season of life she’s in, she is God’s masterpiece-not her own work of art. When God sees her, He sees His beautiful creation. A creation that yes, has some wrinkles needing to be smoothed out and yet, is one in whom is His delight to love to perfection.
Your Name is Victory
For a number of reasons, maybe you don’t feel like a work of art on this particular day. In your opinion you’re either too skinny or too fat. You may have PMS symptoms that are causing you to be bloated and grouchy. You may have PMS symptoms that are causing you to be bloated and grouchy. As this moment you might just feel like pulling off every piece of clothing you’re wearing because you are having the biggest hot flash this side of heaven! Maybe you are in your ninth month of pregnancy, feeling like an overinflated balloon with nowhere to turn for comfort. Nevertheless, in whatever way you describe yourself, in God’s eyes you still reflect His greatest creation.
As a single person, did you ever have to endure the experience of someone else’s wedding celebration at a time when you were longing for a mate? You probably sat there with a smile on your face while silently your heart was aching. In situations like that, it’s easy to feel like you are nothing special. But you are. Maybe your husband or boyfriend cheated on you and now you are wondering why you weren’t good enough. You were. Maybe that costly mistake you made makes you feel worthless. You are still a masterpiece. Maybe you were abused and nobody else knows about it. You think, If I am such a masterpiece, how could that have happened? I might be a torn work of art, but never the real thing. Know that you are precious to God. He delights in you. You are His work of genius.
Whatever your state of mind may be, God wants to have an intimate relationship with you. He wants to bless you, redeem you, and heal you. In fact, your heavenly Father has planned a lifetime of good things for you to do. To make sure that you accomplish them, He will orchestrate the events of your life so that you will use everything you have experienced for His glory. For this reason, it is important that you recognize how valuable you are to God. He wants you to listen to what He is saying to you through your daily trials. Reach out to Him for answers that will transform and improve your life. He is reaching out to you.
But you say, “What about how I feel?” You must understand that your feelings are not reliable and they don’t always reflect the truth. Only the Word of God is truth – it is dependable and trustworthy – and it never changes. Have you ever felt one way about something and, after you got more information, you reacted in a completely different way? A shift in circumstances can cause a change in your perception about a given situation. Even though you can’t always depend on them, the Lord understands that your emotions can sometimes get the best of you. Scripture even tells us that Jesus is touched by our feelings: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize without weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we re, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15)
Jesus knows how you feel because He shared those same feelings. But, as the Son of God, He has the power to help you defeat everything that hinders you from moving forward. He wants you to move past your emotions and rely on Him so that you can see your circumstances in a different light- the light of His loving concern. It’s not about the way that you feel about a problem; it’s your faith in Jesus’ power that will conquer every challenge. Faith will allow you to depend on His strength to overcome those stubborn feelings that would keep you stuck in the past. Jesus wants you to live a victorious life. Always have these words on your lips and remember to say of our Lord, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13)
The truth of the matter is, even when you feel like God doesn’t love you, He does. His love is a fact. His love for you is true – regardless of what you are going through. Love Him back. He’ll show you who He is and how much He really does care. Even during the times when you might want to quit because you feel like you are too far behind, finish the race. You will win.
You will be able to echo the words to Jonathan Nelson’s song “My Name is Victory”.[1]
I’ve got evidence
I’ve got confidence
I’m a conqueror
I know that I win
I know who I am
God wrote it in His plan for me
MY NAME IS VICTORY!
As a believer in Christ, victory belongs to you. The good works you are going to perform are already ordained for you. Breathe in and step out. Do what God tells you to do and He will do the rest. Remember, your name is “Victory”.
- What is meant by “Victory”? I have known peope who have claimed victory, but never been healed, and never seemed to experience “victory”.
- I have been in a number of bad relationships, and now I feel worthless. How do I begin to feel like I am worth something again?
- You said I have to move past my emotions. How do I do that?
- I don’t know who I am anymore, or what I am supposed to be doing with my life. How do I find out?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KARIA BUNTING is an expository Bible teacher whose mission is to communicate the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ so that people are saved, and disciples are developed. She is the founder of Focused Forward Ministries, a communication and media ministry, and a member of several community and ministry organizations. She also partners with her husband, George, in his management & financial consulting company.
Karia received her master’s degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and a doctorate from Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary. She’s currently receiving a second doctorate from the University of Texas. She serves as an adjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University and enjoys ministering the Word and its’ principles through her lecture series and power lunches held throughout the year.
Karia and George, her husband of 26 years, live in Dallas, Texas where she teaches the Word weekly in the women’s Bible study at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. Mother of three children, Karia is also a mentor to many young women. She enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with family and friends.
Visit her Dr. Karia online at focusedforwardministries.org.
View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/DaddysDelight.
[1] Jonathan Nelson, “My Name is Victory!” Integrity/Columbia. 2008 Integrity Media, Inc.
*A Tywebbin Blog Tour
Wow, wow! What a powerful message! Dr. Karia, welcome and thanks so much for sharing with us and visiting RAWSISTAZ today. Please feel free to tell us more about yourself and Daddy’s Delight.
-Tee
Thanks, Angelina. I hope it blesses your socks off!
T.C.,
Alright – the real deal is, I’m just a mom who is crazy about her kids, a wife who is crazy about her husband, and a communicator of God’s Word who is crazy about the Lord and His people.
That’s what drives me – my absolute Love for Him.
He has taken me through a long journey in a few years, and allowed me to get to know Him. I want everyone else to know Him like I do, and experience His love firsthand.
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Dr. Karia, that kinda crazy I can deal with.
Smile!
Daddy’s Delight is a book that the Lord gave me to let His women know that they are valuable to Him, and to provide them clear, biblical instructions for each life stage. What I think is different about what God did in this book is His seamless integration of life and scripture. God’s word provides instructions to us, whether we are moms, unmarried, divorced, widowed, married, career women, caretakers, daughters, or women in ministry. We need to know what He has said and how He has instructed us to live, so we can live victoriously. Many of us are challenged in life simply because we are not living according to His design. We are stressing ourselves, getting irritated with our kids, getting angry with our husbands, are about ready to quit our jobs, and finding our lives out of balance. God has a word for us. I am thankful He chose to use me to deliver His Word in an enjoyable, practical manner.
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One of the most interesting things that people have not thought about, is what God has to say to those who are unmarried. He really delights in unmarrried people! As a matter of fact, He says through his servant Paul that being unmarried is the preferred state. Women today think that being unmarried is a state of waiting. People in the church, even, are always trying to give unmarried people “the hook up”! God says, “No, I even want people in the church to understand that being unmarried isan awesome way to live!” Then Paul, through his clear example and the principles He lives, tells unmarried women how to be in that state, maximize, and enjoy it.
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Dr. Karia,
I am “unmarried” but I do find much external pressure in all forms pushing me to the alter. Family, church, media, friends, etc. I am career oriented and driven woman, but do desire companionship. I suppose I’m curious as to how to address those that say I should be in a relationship that is moving towards marriage. Its not that I dont want to be married, it just hasnt happened (yet).
External pressure does not equal internal pleasure.
Ignore them. And if they won’t be ignored, you can tell them, “God has called me to be unmarried at this stage of my life. When and if He provides a mate, it will be the right one, and I will be grateful. Until then, I am going to wait.”
The Lord, creator of heven and earth, the one who put the stars in their place, the one who invented time and will end it, the one in whom everything lives and moves and has its’ existence, the one who raised Jesus from the dead, the one whom is surrounded by beasts who sing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The earth is full of his glory.”, that one, even His son Jesus who is sitting on the right hand of the Father surely can bring you a companion in the right season – in due time.
I am thinking now of a biography I read of Shirley Ceasar. It was a great book. Anyway, in it she talks about her journey. She was unmarried most of her life. But, oh, in due season. At the right time, God brought her an awesome mate. She told him when she met him, “You gotta love and take care of my mama.” He did. She said, “I gotta go serve the Lord.” He said go. He provided for her, loved her, and cared for her — in due season. Now there was a joker that came along before that who was not the man for her. (Probably more than one, but she just talks about one). He wouldn’t have been the one. He would have shut down her ministry.
Don’t let any man come along and shut down what God is building up in you. Don’t let the desire for a companion stop you from following God’s path for you. When you follow God’s path He will bring a partner for you who will honor, love, and respect, and encourage you according to the way that you are designed.
But ladies, if you are already “I do’d” up with someone. There are a completely different set of instructions for you. Now it is not about you. It is about God’s succession plan for his Kingdom. Read the book to learn more! (And yes, that is a plug!”
LOL! I love your response for unmarried women though. If anyone uses it, be sure to share the results with us.
Goodness I am now 60 and not thinking about getting married but when I was in my 30′s, folks gave me the BLUES..”why aint you married..whats wrong with you..you gay….you gonna be a old maid…”etc etc..so I meet a man I think I can live with..JUST TO GET MARRIED..and I was done with him within a week. We divorced a year later. Married in July-divorced in Aug. So unmarried folks..dont rush..in fact dont feel like you HAVE to do anything.
Wow. Testimony time.
I am on my way to purchase…Be Blessed~
angelia
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Thanks, Angelina. I hope it blesses your socks off!
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Hello and welcome !
Hello! How are you! I am glad you joined the discussion. I am glad to be here!
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So Linda, are you joining us at your lunchtime? It is good to meet you!
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Sorry I am just responding. I had some errands. Actually I have been out of work for over 14 months. It’s been ROUGH but I am happy to say, I am not living in my car..whew
And it sounds like you had gas to put in it. My friend, God is faithful. It may get tight, but you won’t go down.
I am reminded of the scripture that says Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Do you know why a lion roars? To paralyze his prey with fear.
The lions roar is loud, it can shake windows five miles away. But we have a greater defender – the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is our provider. He is the one who gives us hope and a future. And He is the on who promises us that (even when it doesn’t feel like it), all of “this” will work out for our good if we 1)love Him and 2) are called according to His purpose. Do you love Him? Are you called according to what He designed for you – as you honor Him? Then you qualify. It will all work out for your good.
I remember when my husband lost his corporate job (layoff). He had done very well in his career – V.P. level of a fortune 500 company! We got down to the point where every night we were buying Albertson’s ground beef (which went on sale for 99 cents a pound after 7:00 p.m.) so we would have food to eat! But God….let me tell you that He provided every need we had. And now my children have faith that you would not believe. They talk faith, walk faith, and live faith. When my youngest daughter wanted to transfer to Howard from Davidson (a school where she had a $40,000.00/year scholarship0, she said “Mom, this is what the Lord wants me to do.” Dad (I call my husband Dad) said, “Well the Lord is going to have to give you the money, because you are walking away from a $40,000/yr scholarship!” She responded “He will”. And she transferred. Just like that. Do you know that she made an appointment with the financial aid office, and with a click of a button they made sure she had the money to go to school – housing and all! Girl, I have seen Him come through. Stay faithful to Him. He will be faithful to you. And don’t listen to the roar.
Thanks for sharing this, Dr. K (yep, I shortened your name…lol). I have seen this so much over the last year (not the $40,000 type), but having that faith and knowing things will work out. Just saw it yesterday within 10 minutes of me telling someone “I have faith and believe God will work it out.” It is simply amazing!!
Good morning and thank you for joining us today!!! Dr. Karia, what is one thing you hope readers get from reading Daddy’s Delight?
Instructions for living well, and the experience of knowing and accepting God’s unconditional love.
I suppose that is not one thing, is it! But, I think this…first that we don’t understand God’s unconditional love for us, so we find ourselves consistently trying to earn it by doing more, being more, more….more…more.
But He already loves us. He already delights in us. He is just waiting for us to enter into intimate relationship with us so that He can bless us.
It is the intimacy that He desires. He is not an angry or judgmental God. If He were, some of us would already be gone! Yes, He disciplines. But like a loving father would discipline a child, not like an abusive Father would discipline one. His “rod and staff” is always ready to bless us.
What God will do for us is already done for us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our task is to access that blessing,
So I wanted to help our women understand how to access God’s blessing at every life stage. I wanted them to hear His voice of instruction, guidance, and love. I wanted them to hear Him say, “Sweetheart, I love you anyway.” I want us to reclaim our dignity as princesses in Him. No matter how life has treated us, we have royalty flowing through our blood. We are a “royal priesthood”. And our heavenly Daddy is waiting with open arms for us to embrace Him, and position ourselves in life to be blessed.
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Dr. Karia,
It is a pleasure to read this passage from your book. I really want to read more! I am new to the discussion but have a question:
You tell readers that their feelings are not reliable. What part, then, do feelings have to play in ones decisions? Or self-perception?
Feelings are feelings. They are not decision makers. They are ligitimate – you really feel what you feel. God gave you feelings, they are not evil.
But the issue is this: When God created man, He created him/her with a body, a spirit, and a soul. The body, you can see. The spirit is what lives forever. It will be in either heaven or hell.
And then there is the soul – the personality.
Feelings come from the personality.
That would be alright, except that every person’s personality is a little warped. You and me too, firend. Someone has hurt us – a little warp. Someone has mistreated us – a litle warp. We have mistreated someone else, either accidentally or intentionally – a little warp. We call them “quirks”, “hot buttons”, “painful places”, etc.
Well, when someone runs into one of those, “BOOM”, there explodes our feelings. The feelings are not grounded in truth, they are grounded in experienence.
The only reliable thing is truth.
God’s Word is truth.
So it is not that feelings are bad, they just cannot be relied upon. The Word of God alone is trustworthy.
Let me give you an example. If you are not a runner, you could get up fresh the morning of the Boston Marathon and feel great, and say “I feel like I could run a marathon today.” So you could get your tennis on and stretch, and jump up and down a few times and say to yourself, “Boy, I could run a marathon today.” Then you could get in your car and drive to the beginning of the marathon. You could register and get your number and get excited that you are a part of the marathon-running people who are going to run a marathon. You could line up at the front of the crowd of people to run the marathon. But oh, that doesn’t mean you can run the marathon. If you are 250 pounds, love cookies, candy, and the couch, you had better have a lot of water! Because about one or two miles in,…oh, boy….it is going to hit you that, regardless of how you felt when you started, you should have prepared to run the marathon.
You feelings have decieved you.
In life, sometimes our feelings deceive us. They tell us, “Don’t worry about him not having a job, it will be alright. He is so cute.”. They tell us, “I am not going to get that job anyway, so why try.” They tell us, “I am not going to go for that RFP (or that job), because the odds are stacked against me. The always give those to the same company.” We drive with the brakes on. We shut ourselves down when God is trying to lift us up.
Or some of us are lifted up a little too much. We are the female version of that husband in “Why Did I Get Married.” Come on ladies. I might have two doctorates, but that just tells me enough to know that I don’t know anything. It took at least one of those doctorates to get me to that point! If you had asked me at age 21 if I knew everything, I might have told you that I knew everything I needed to know.
Now I know I don’t know everything I need to know. But God does. So I rely on Him.
Making decisions based on feelings means that you think you know everything you need to know when your emotions rise within you. I would submit to you that you do not. You assume control of you by submitting yourself to the knowledge and instruction (based on what is, was, and has always been true) from God, the one who knows you, loves you intimately, and who knows all the “what if’s” of your present and future experiences .
I love what you said !
Wow, I never really looked at it like this; at least I don’t think so. I like how you’ve put this and will be applying it to my life. A lot of times we say “let go and let God”, but we’re still kinda holding on. I’m going to do better to let go.
Yes, Tee -
But it is God who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Letting go is not anything any of us do really well. We can only let go if we trust Him. I know you do already, or else you wouldn’t be doing this blog.
But the issue in letting go is getting closer to Him. Which just comes with spending time with Him. Grab a scripture for breakfast tomorrow, and reflect on it all day. Think about how much He loves you. In fact, use a concordance or a reference bible and look up “God’s Love” (your pastor should be able to help, too) Then think about that. Then make a choice.
To believe or not to believe, that is the question.
Thank you so much for responding. It is precious to me that you care enough to write me.
In His Love,
Dr. Karia
So, so true. Thank YOU for sharing with us today. And, Rachel, thank you for joining the discussion. It’s been a busy day, but I wanted to make sure I stopped back through and catch up on everything. Your words have been quite powerful and I am looking forward to getting the book.
I am a constant work in progress, and chats like these truly, truly help.
-Tee
Congratulations Dr. Karia,
This sounds like a very important book for the hour that we are in. May God bless you in all your ways in Jesus name.
Blessings,
Tanya Marie
Thank you, Tanya. And may His blessings abide with you as you honor Him. He always makes a way for His name to be glorified. May it be glorified in your life. Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you in due time.
In His Love,
Dr. Karia
I’m glad I decided to stop through. Your words are jumping off the screen speaking directly to my situation. I have found that the single most important thing I’ve done in my adult life is making my relationship with God a priority. And it seems the more I work on it the more trials try to keep me from seeing his true plans for me.
I intend to be victorious!
Thank you!
Amen, amen!
Dr. Karia, thanks once again for joining us today! We appreciate your time and your words of wisdom. Definitely keep us posted with things and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to join us again.
I will be adding your book to my TO PURCHASE list and hope those who viewed the discussion (or may view it in the future) will also.
Continued blessings!
And thanks to everyone who stopped through. You are appreciated.
-Tee
Thank you, Tee! It was a pleasure to be here.
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Dr. Bunting I must say that was a very profound and interesting read/intro. Sounds like a must read book, I’m excited to have been introduced to the blog.
~Roz
Powerful message, Dr. Bunting!
“Your Name is Victory”. WOW. I am a little late but right on time for that word. As it is confirmation for me that my name is indeed victory! Thanks for sharing and I will be getting my copy of “Daddy’s Delight.” Umm, even the title is confirming!
Best!
Vanessa