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/

Over It (Fear)

I love a good battle scene.   It is both horrible and beautiful when opposing forces clash in the interest of defending their beliefs, their will, and their honor.  I think I am taken in by the spirit of a fighter because I understand that life requires that we all be warriors sometimes.   There is a particular battle scene that is my favorite.  In the movie Troy, Brad Pitt plays the character Achilles.  Achilles is called upon to fight an opponent who is no less than giant. This giant was treacherous.  This battle was ominous.    This Achilles, small as he was in comparison to what he was up against, was victorious. The battle itself wasn't spectacular.  No, it ended as quickly as it started.  It was the fight in the fighter that was fabulous.  Walk with me through the scene.  The giant glares at Achilles with disdain. He thinks Achilles is no match for him. The giant sends up his war cry, makes up a bunch of noise, and the battle begins.  The giant's supporters roar and cheer him on.  Achilles supporters show no support.   They don't believe he can win.  Nonetheless, Achilles moves forward to fight.  The giant hurls a spear and it pounds against Achilles shield.  Achilles moves on forward.  The giant hurls a second spear and it just misses Achilles.  Achilles runs on, now moving at full speed, toward this beast of an opponent: never stopping, never looking back. Before anything could be said or done, Achilles' challenger is laid down.  Achilles was up against insurmountable odds, but he overcame them.  How did he do it? He used a very potent weapon.  No, his weapon was not a sword.  No, his weapon was not a spear.  His weapon was fearlessness.

In the course of life, we too, come up against some very threatening opponents.  You may be facing one now.  Whatever you do, don't run the other way.   Avoidance and cowardice are more of  a threat than what you are up against could ever be.  Understand that fear will come. Know that you must never bow down to it.  Bowing down to fear makes fear your God. You have in essence said that your fear is greater than your God.  That is a lie.   What's true is: 1.) There is nothing too hard for God.  2.) God never fails.   3.) God doesn't give us  a spirit of fear.  4.) God gives us power. 

Walk in that power or fear will rob you of what's yours.  The Bible says that you cannot serve two masters.  And its true.  You will either act based on what God says can be done or you will not act based on what fear says can't be done.  You won't be able to do both. 

Trusting anything more than you trust God always leads to some level of death.  So when you avoid stepping out or stepping up in faith, you will lose something every time.  So then what do you do when fear shows up?  (We already said it surely will).  You do it afraid.  Whatever it is.  Be afraid.  Do it anyway.  The Bible has shown us this principle works.  In Genesis we are told about the family of Joseph.  His brothers had gone to Egypt in search of food because there was a famine going on in their land.  The brother's were directed to return home and to bring their brother Benjamin back to Egypt with them.  The brothers'  father, Israel, was afraid he would lose his sons if he sent them back.  He had already lost his favored son Joseph.  It was painful to face such a challenge.  It was a fear he didn't want to face.  He sent his son anyway.  Following that, Israel was called to Egypt as well.  He was afraid to go. Israel sought God and God told him to go on to Egypt. Israel obeyed and went, afraid.  Israel chose to operate over fear rather than in fear. It was a life-changing, life-saving decision.  Israel was reunited with his long-lost son, Joseph.  All his kindred was saved from the famine and God multiplied his possessions and family exceedingly.  The Bible tells many stories of people operating over fear (study Esther, Gideon, Moses...the list goes on).  Even Jesus prayed to not have to face the challenge of sacrificing himself for our sins.  Thank God Jesus operated over fear.

 

We must take fear for what it is.  It is an indicator.  Fear only serves the purpose of letting us know that we need to pray and prepare.  We are warriors. We are built for victory.  If we fight honorably under the leading of God, we can't lose. Fear is not our master. Move beyond it. Live above it. Get over it. 

Scripture:
II Timothy 1:7
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

Psalm 34:4
I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered from all my fears.


Prayer:
Lord, bless us to be strong and courageous. Bless us to operate over all fear knowing that you go with us wherever we go.  Thank you Lord, because you never leave us nor forsake us. You love us. We are more than conquerors.  Amen.
 

Good

Outside the sun radiates in such a manner that it sings of Jesus.  Not a cloud is in the sky.  You have friendship and love in your life.  There is harmony and peace in your home,  You, your family, and your friends have strength and good health. Things at the job are going well.  All your bills are current.  You have everything you need and most of what you want.  Life is going your way

God is good.

Outside the rain is pouring.  The sun is nowhere to be seen.  The friendships and love in your life are faulty.  It's like a war zone in your home.  You're worried about the health of someone special to you.  You and your boss at odds on your job.  You have bills that are overdue.  You can't get anything you want and barely what you need.  Nothing seems to be going your way.

God is good.

God is good ALL the time.  God does what he can to keep trouble out of our way.  There are times though that the choices we have made or the choices that others around us have made cause unpleasant things to occur.  The Bible says it rains on the just and the unjust.  So the fact of the matter is, there will be trouble in our lives sometimes.  Good or bad, though, no matter what goes on around you maintain your thankfulness to/for and your faith in God.  God's desire is to always be on our side. He wants to celebrate with us when things are going well.  He wants to help us when things are not going so well.  If we allow it, he'll always be there for us.  God is good.

Scripture:
Psalms 31:19  Oh how great is the goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Psalms 52:1 ...the goodness of God endureth continually


Prayer:  God may we ever be mindful of your goodness.  Amen.

Music To Our Ears

Think back to a time when you did somethng and didn't feel right on the inside.  A little whispering in your spirit gently tried to lead you in a different direction.  Maybe you heard it and maybe not.  Maybe you labeled that voice as your conscience.  Well, it's much more than that.  That voice that you feel rather than hear is not a figment of your imagination.  It is the voice of the Lord.   God is trying to lead you down the path of righteousness and salvation.   Most of us have an innate sense of when something is wrong or right.  It is like the Lord's commandments are written in our spirits and when we do something that dishonors those commandments, we know it.  We feel uncomfortable about it.  We feel so uncomfortable that we make a different decision that doesn't leave our guts churning with guilt.   Not everyone is blessed with the gift of the Lord's direction.  Some walk around giving no thought to wrong things that they've done.  Imagine the destruction that others around that person suffer because that person lacks the leading of God's spirit.  Sensing the difference between wrong and right is a gift of God.  In the Bible, God cursed people with what is called a reprobate mind.  That means that he gave them over to their own thinking.  He no longer would direct them away from poor choices.  That meant they would not be directed away from destruction.  We don't want that.  If God is thoughtful enough of us to offer us the safety net of his guidance, we should listen.  We also should always connect our conscienceness with God.  It is easy to refuse the direction of an abstract guide.  If we think of the feelings that we have when we make decisions as only our conscience, we may or may not follow it.   If we keep in mind that our conscience is the leading of God, it becomes harder to refuse His guidance.  God loves us.  He wants to keep us and others around us out of harms way.  So if you hear in your spirit God telling you to do/or not do something.  Listen and obey.  After all, God's voice should always be music to our ears.

Scripture:
St. John 10:4  And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

Exodus 23:20-22 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him.  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

Prayer:
Lord, please guide us in all things.  May we ever have eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that understand and receive your leading.  Holy Spirit we invite you to live in us and reign over us as God sees fit. Amen.

Them Bones, Them Bones

One of my favorite chapters of scriptures is Ezekiel 37.  In this passage, the Lord God took Ezekiel, the prophet, by spirit into an open valley.  In that valley, bones were scattered everywhere.  There were a great number of bones and they were said to be very dry.  The Lord asked Ezekiel, "Son of man, Can these bones live?" Ezekiel answered, "God, you know." From there God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones and to tell the bones, "Thus saith the Lord, I will put you back together. I will lay sinews, flesh, and skin on you and put breath in you and you will live and you will know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel prophesied as God commanded. In the midst of Ezekiel prophesying the bones started coming together. Then the sinews and flesh came upon them and skin, but they didn't breath.  God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind and to tell the wind to come from the four winds and blow upon the bones that they may live.  So again, Ezekiel obediently prophesied.  And it was so.  The bones lived and stood upon their feet.  They were an exceedingly great army.  Oh, does that minister!

Let's look into this scripture together.  The Lord saw fit to set this scripture in the valley.  Well, what is a valley?  A valley is a place of division.  What once was together has been breached, rended, ripped up, or torn.   The valley is the bottom of what once was a pinnacle. It's stuck in the middle.  Behind it is a heart wrenching reminder of what once was and in front is a painful picture of what  should be.  We've all been in the valley.   Valley moments are moments in which we are at our lowest.  Situations we are in have us stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Getting out seems nearly impossible.  Keep reading.  

In the valley, there were bones.  There were lots of them.  They were very dry.  The bones represent our state of being.   The fact that there were so many represents the fact that so many people are in the valley.  The hardships that they have experienced in the valley, sickness-financial hardship-torn relationships-etc.- have the people hopeless...very hopeless...in essence, dead.  

God knows just how to revive his people, though.  God finds a person who has faith in Him to declare His word over his people. He tells Ezekiel to speak over them that God has declared their restoration.   Immediately at the declaration of the word of the Lord things begin to come together.  This indicates that when we are vexed and downtrodden, we have to stand on God's word, even when we are at our driest point having been stuck in our hopelessness for years.  Speak his word.  God's word overrides the impact of time and circumstance.  The effectiveness of God's word is instant.  His word is potent.  His word is life.    

God was very systematic in his restoration of his people.  Notice how God set up the bones first. The bones represent a support system.  When we are in the valley of hopelessness, we become dead.  We are not even able to seek help for ourselves. God sends a support system.  He'll lead people to pray and intercede for you, people will witness to you, friends and family or even strangers will come to your aid.

Next, God restored the sinews, which is the muscle.  Muscle indicates strength.  You'll begin to notice that something on the inside is keeping you going.  You begin to operate   on supernatural strength.  You wanted to throw in the towel, but now you are ready for one more round.  Keep fighting.  God is in your corner.

Then God gave them flesh.  Flesh represents humanity.  It is a basic form of existence.  It is the body, in absence of the soul or spirit.

Then came the skin.  Skin serves a couple of purposes.  Our sense of touch occurs through the skin.   We use the term developing thick skin or being calloused in reference to our lack of sensitivity to what should affect us emotionally.  Skin also covers and protects what's inside of us. When God restored their skin, he restored their ability to sense and identify what is going on around them and their ability to hold everything together.

After all this rebuilding, though, there was still no life in them.  God told Ezekiel to prophesy again. He told Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind.  He told the wind to come from the four corners and breathe on the dead that they may live.  This shows us that even if the natural man is built up, we are not yet really alive until we receive the Spirit of God.  We need God working in us, not just around us.  His word says that we can pray to him in faith and ask to receive the Holy Spirit in us.  If you have not invited the Holy Spirit to live in you. Just say a prayer now.  Tell God you want to receive His spirit in you.

Once, the people had been restructured and the Holy Spirit restored, they lived.  Not only did they live again. The Bible says that they stood as an exceedingly great army.  All those restored lives became an awesome testament of the power of our God and they, now, could fight in behalf of others.  That is so awesome! I love it.

God had Ezekiel to prophesy once more.  This time his prophesy was direct.  God declared, "Behold, Oh my people,  I will open your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.  And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it."  At the end of it all, God wants us to know that He is the one who restores us and bring us back to life.  He is the one who takes us out of the valley and brings us back from the wrong places that we have taken ourselves.  When we are lifted up, it is by his strength, by his mighty hand, and by his word.  We could never do it on our own.  

I praise God for his willingness to bring us out of our dry, dead places.  If you feel as though you are living in a valley of dry bones, pray to God. Speak his word over your life, literally. Open your mouth and declare his promises.  The word of the Lord is truth.  His words never fail.  They stand forever.

Scripture:
Read Ezekiel 37: 1-14

Isaiah 55:11
So shal My word be that goes forth, out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producting any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Hebrews 4:12

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the brath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Prayer:
We praise you God. You are the source of our restoration.  You are our strength and our redeemer. Amen.