Watch

Something is always out there either lurking or lingering.  If it's lurking, then it's usually something coming in the form of temptation or distress.  It wants to sneak up on you and catch you unaware and unprepared: easy prey.  If it is lingering, then it could be a gift or a blessing.  God doesn't want to catch you unprepared.  He wants to be sure that you are ready and prepared to receive what he wants to give you.  So sometimes God has to wait. Whichever the case, lurking or lingering, you must be ready.  Christians should always be on the watchtower looking out and praying for revelation of what is coming their way.   Keep the lines of communication with God open so He can be free to reveal things to you as needed.  Stay out of sin. Pray and praise.  That way, God can hear your petitions and when he answers, his answer can get through to you.  You don't have to watch alone either.  Get a prayer partner or join a prayer group.  Pray with your congregation.  The more you are on the watch, the less likely you are to miss a blessing or to fall in the trap of the enemy.  While watching out for yourself, it is also critical to watch and intercede for others.  Help those who may be temporarily disconnected from God by standing in prayer for them in their absence.  

Something is always waiting 'round the corner.  But we don't need to worry.  We just need to watch.

Scripture:

Mark 14:38     Watch and pray...

I Corinthians 16:13  Watch, stand fast in the faith....

Prayer:

Lord, help us to be spiritually alert and mindful and to watch and pray continually.

Marriage

Today I witnessed a wedding.  To me it's beautiful when two people stand before God in the interest of pledging a lifelong commitment to one another.  Our pastor said today that marriage is a covenant.  It's true.  The intent of a Christian wedding ceremony is to go to God in acknowledgement of him being head of all and to stand before him to swear our commitment to one intended spouse for life.

 

God esteems the institution of marriage.  He regards it highly enough to establish standards for it.  In Ephesians 5, God lays out his expectations clearly.  They are simple.

 

1. Wives submit to your own husbands:

     In these days it is hard for a women to acknowledge a man as being head over her.  Why should we have to humble ourselves to our husbands when we are as capable as they are in everything?  They often don't deserve to be in charge and prove themselves to be less than wise.  Well, that doesn't matter.  We submit to our husbands not in response to what they do or who/how they are.  We submit to our husbands because it is a directive from God. That is why we must be very prayerful and wise before going into the union. God has established an order and a system for marriage.  To go against that system is to go against God.  It is to say that we think ourselves to know better than God knows.  Submitting yourself to your husband doesn't mean that you have no say.  It means that the husband has the final say.

 

2. Husbands love your wives as God loves the church:

    Many people believe women were given the harder order when it comes to marital relationships because the husband is declared head over the wife.  But to he whom much is given, much is required.  God has given the husband authority, and in return God has commanded love from the husband for his wife.  God made it clear that he doesn't expect our emotional, up-and-down, here-then-gone, unstable, fleshly kind of love from the husband either.  No, God requires that the husband love his wife as God loves the church.  God loves his church dearly.  God is very protective of his church.  God is a provider for his church.  God shows his church grace and mercy everyday. There is no selfishness or bravado in God's love for his church.   Everything God does in regards to his church is done out of love.  God sacrificed himself for his church.  The way God has treated and still does treat his church is God's directive for how a husband should deal with his wife. 

 

God created us.  He knows how we work.  God created the make up of a man as such that he needs respect.  Most men could suffer through a marriage without love, but not without respect.  God created the make up of a woman such that her greatest desire is love.  A woman needs to know that her husband will daily lay himself down on her behalf.  If not, something will always be missing or broken in the marriage. 

 

Marriage is a sanctioned union.  It is the joining of two people as they become one.  Marriage is a process, not an act or ceremony.  Marriage can only function as intended when both members understand that God must be head over it all, which means following his commandments concerning it.  

 

Scripture:

Ephesians 5:22-33

²² Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. ²⁴ Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. ³⁰ For we are members of His body,^[d] of His flesh and of His bones. ³¹ “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”^{[e] 32} This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ³³ Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

  Prayer:
Lord help us to understand marriage.  Help us to clearly comprehend your intents and purposes for it and our responsibilities in it.  Help us to live in the beauty and goodness of it.
Amen.

Honor

The Lord gave us standards that he expects for us to uphold.  One of the top ten is "Honor thy mother and father".  We've all heard that one.  We teach it to our children very early.   The commandment is spoken of so often that even people who aren't Christians know it by heart.  In and out of our ears it flows and it is sweet as honey to us, until we have to eat it.  What do I mean?  Well, what I mean is that sometimes we forget that the commandment doesn't just apply to kids.  We adults have a mother and father that God expects for us to honor.  Leaving from under our parents roofs and being freed from their reign doesn't release us from the commandment.  After all,  the commandment wasn't written as "honor thy father and mother until you get grown and on your own".  No matter how old we are or how long we've been out of the nest, our parents still care for and are concerned about us.  So honor them and care for them as they did and still do for you.  It doesn't take much. Call them just to say hello and see how they're doing.  Go by and visit.  Help them take care of some errands, chores, or tasks. Do something with them that they enjoy.  However possible, let them know that you love them by showing it. It's also important to directly tell them that you love them and that you appreciate the things they have done for you.  Don't assume that they already know.

Some of us may have parents who don't seem worthy of our love or respect.  Wehave to remember that we are unworthy of God's love, but he chooses to love us anyway.  We should extend the same Godly love to our parents.  We can honor them by praying to God in their behalf.  Others may have parents who have done unspeakable things that makes it near impossible to contend with them.  Pray for that parent from a distance.  God may never require  contact with that parent, but he still doesn't want us to hold on to the anger and pain they caused us to feel.  For wounds that deep, we need to get on our knees and pray to God to help us with these feelings.   

One thing about parents is that they are only able to put out what was put into them when they were being raised. Most often times when they hurt us, it is acts of ignorance not intention. Keep that in mind.   

At the end of the day, like-love-or hate them, God allowed us to be born through them.  So honor them for that. 

The Bible tells us that our life-span is connected to our following of the 'honor thy father and mother' commandment.  It also says that we should honor this commandment if we want things to be well with us.  To me that says that this commandment is important to God and what's important to God, should be important to us.

Scripture:
Exodus: 20:12  Honor your father and mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gives thee.

Ephesians 6:2,3 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise.  That it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.

Prayer:
Lord you have commanded us to show honor to our parents.  Help us obey this commandment and to honor our parents in ways that are pleasing to your sight.  Help us to love our parents as you love us; beautifully.

Fear of Flying

You have been pondering over this...hard. It's a huge step and a drastic change.  You're a faithful Christian, so you've prayed over it and genuinely sense that God is leaning you towards making this move.  So what's stopping you...fear? Don't let fear stop you.  Let go, branch out, and trust God.  God has given you spiritual wings and his desire is for you to spread them like wildfire. You can't afford to be afraid of flying.  Imagine if the angels kept their magnificent plumage tucked away in fear.  They would miss getting to behold the wonders of heaven that God has created and, worse than that, they couldn't carry out the assignments that God has for them to do.  That would mean that others would be negatively impacted by their decision to negate their God given ability to fly.  God has given you abilities, strengths, and talents, but he didn't give them to you for you to use at your disposal. He gave you these gifts so that you could do your part in serving his divine purposes.  Someone somewhere has a prayer hanging in the balance.  The answer to it is hinging upon your acceptance that God really is calling you to get the job done. 

In the Bible, we are told about Moses.  Moses had a fear of flying.  God called upon Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  Moses was convinced that God couldn't possibly be right in picking him and he tried to explain to God why he should pick someone else.  Now that's comical.  The Bible says God knows us before we are ever formed and fashioned in the womb.  He knows how many hairs we have on our head.  He knows our thoughts before we ever formulate them.  Basically, he knows us better than we know ourselves.  So how could Moses ever tell God something that he didn't already know about him.  He couldn't.  God knew just what he was doing when he picked Moses. There was something in Moses that God saw, that Moses didn't see.  God doesn't make mistakes.  Moses was able to lead the people to the promised land.

The same is true of you.  If God has chosen you to do something, he knows what he is doing.  It's not a mistake.  Stop arguing with him and step up to the task.  You will do fine.  God may not have given you wings like the angels, but he certainly did build you for flying.  

Scripture:
Isaiah 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not...

Prayer:
Lord, help us to operate in unyielding faith knowing that you will prepare and empower us for any assignment you give us.  Amen.

http://carsonleith.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/the-four-fears-of-moses/