One of the most famous and recognizable icons in the world, majestically stands in the New York Harbor on Liberty Island. This structure stands proudly and vigilant as it welcomes thousands of tourists each and every year into this land. Her overwhelming presence also reaches out to many immigrant people who are looking for LEGAL entry into the greatest and freest country in the world.
They come from all over the world searching for freedom and to fulfill their dreams, support their families, and to escape from their oppressive governments.
I am of course, talking about the Statue of Liberty, which was an 1876 gift from France, and built by the Free Masons. Although there is an ominous cloud hanging over her, to me, she is the symbol of freedom, hope, democracy, and American ideals. May she forever be the bearer of light and a beacon to people.
Many governments have come and gone but none more free, righteous, and profitable than the American experiment. The question is, how much longer will she survive? Because when America is gone, where will the people go?
Things change and many times, not for the better. The political season is over now and America is no longer that beacon on the hill. Miss Liberty’s flame is beginning to go out.
Now instead of freedom, we have economic debt. Instead of hope, we have 9% unemployment, a $16 trillion deficit, and financial downgrade. Instead of Democracy, we have socialism and redistribution. Instead of American ideals, we have religious persecution, immorality, a corrupt government, and an entitlement society.
We are not only the laughing stock of the world because of our apologies and our choice of leaders, but we’ve ransomed our kids future, made capitalism and profit a dirty name, and have nationalized the mortgage industry, banks, schools, auto industry, and have socialized healthcare.
All this in the last four to five years of a 236 year history!
Will the real America please stand up. . .or has she?
News sources have said that the election turned out the way it did because the losing side lost the PR battle with the minorities. When I heard that, I couldn’t believe it. I call it “Dependency politics.”
If the majority of the electorate want free stuff more than the truth and a way out of our financial crisis, then let’s just all throw down the gauntlet and become a single party country of “clothe me, feed me, shelter me, and gimme people.” America is going to be a single party country soon. They call it “socialism.” (Then Communism.)
Our identity theft has not caught God off guard. Because we have turned our back on Him, He has removed the hedge of protection from around us (9-11). This put America under judgment. However, we are in a period of grace right now, but if we do not return to God, then there will be more judgment.
There is an evil in America and its tentacles have ensnared us and every vestige of our country. Fifty-one percent of the electorate has been beguiled and have chosen which side they want to belong. Most are not evil they are just beguiled. I am calling the 49% to pray for this country, its leaders, and her people. We should pray like we’ve never prayed before. This is not a game brothers and sisters. This is for keeps and for all the marbles.
We need to be praying for salvation to come to the lost and to the beguiled. We also need to be praying for God to heal our land. I believe that 2 Chronicles 7:14 is not only talking about geographical (natural) land, but is talking about our spiritual land as well. In other words, wherever we are at in our spiritual journey, pray that God would heal us there at that spot. (All truth is parallel.)
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
May the Lord God bless America and have mercy on us. May He intervene supernaturally and restore the freedom, hope, democracy, and American ideals to our land. I pray that the people's eyes are opened and that President Obama sees the errors of his ways and turns from his wicked ways. I pray that he seeks salvation from the Lord - in Jesus name.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
PREFERENCE vs CONVICTION
I have heard it said that, “I would die for Christ.” Peter had a problem with that [Matthew 26:35]. Do any of us have a problem with that? It is my opinion that if we will not live for Christ, then we will not die for Him. To that believer, his relationship with God was a preference. What are the differences between conviction and preference?
I’ll get out of the way and let the Word of God tell us the difference.
Mark 12:30, 31, and Matthew 16:24 teach us of conviction.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:25 warns us of preference.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Let Revelation 3:16 teach us of the consequences.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
We have not yet tested unto death. Persecutions are rampant world-wide and have done so for centuries [2 Timothy 3:12]. However, there is coming a time when our faith “in Christ” will be tested, and if we, like Peter, shall deny Jesus, our faith was a preference and not a conviction. If we stand up for Christ even unto death, our faith was a conviction and God will reward us with a crown of life.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life [Revelation 2:10].
There are other Scriptures for each but now it’s your turn to do a follow-up study. The day in question is fast approaching. Will you live and die for Christ? Is your relationship with Christ a conviction or a preference? That’s between you and God. Only God knows whether the cock will crow thrice.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
DOWN TO GOD'S MINUTE
Like many other families today, sis and I sat in my living room discussing the state of the world and the end of times. We were speculating as to how much time we had remaining in human government. We agreed that the end was getting closer. Sis said, "We’re getting down to God’s minute."
"Down to God’s minute."
This simple little phrase started stirring in my spirit. There is a quote that says, "If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get done." It reminded me of God’s perfect timing and how He is seldom early, but is never late, and always on time. . .His time. More times than not, our answers from God come at the last minute, or God’s minute. Our waiting builds faith and gives us focus. . .focus on Christ.
PERILOUS TIMES: Attacking the Body
World history is down to God’s last minute. Human government is about to end and the millennial reign is right around the corner. With the events happening in Syria and the region, things are changing exponentially: management by crisis, economic collapse, the nationalization of services, the deterioration of the family, religious persecution and governmental corruption abounds. These are some perilous times in which we live. What is going on?
The enemy has a complete knowledge of Scripture and knows that his time is short and what the end times holds for him. Consequently, he is releasing an onslaught of spirits in these last days to overwhelm us into turning away from God. He and his minions are attacking the body as a whole and as individuals. However, Genesis 3:1 tells us how the serpent is very subtle.
The enemy will sneak up on us with some innocent and innocuous, mundane thing to lure us unknowingly away from God. For example, you’d be surprised of the amount of confessing Christians who dabble in astrology and horoscopes. Just for fun of course. God’s Word clearly warns us against that practice.
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee [Deuteronomy 18:9-12].
PERILOUS TIMES: Attacking the Individual
Besides astrology, soothsaying, divination, and witchcraft, many other spirits, as roaring lions, roam about looking for whom they may devour. They confound the individual into losing fellowship with God and each other through fear, guilt, shame, regret, contention, bitterness, resentment, anger, jealousy, doubt, unbelief, and the list goes on and on and on. If we do not have a good relationship with God, we will be sucked in.
Over the years, the Bride, having waded through all of these bondages, has lost sight of her identity, destiny, and perceived significance to God. Knowing who we are in Christ, who Christ is in us, and knowing who Christ is through us is pretty much the basis of my new book, which I will release very soon.
RECLAIMING FELLOWSHIP IN GOD’S MINUTE
As Christians, we all knew that these days were coming. However, it’s one thing to talk about and prophecy about a moment in the future, but yet quite another thing to live through it. These are sad and hard times, but at the same time, it is the most exciting time in history to be living.
We’ll either be looking up to see Him coming through the clouds, or we’ll be looking down as we come back with Christ. The choice is ours. I choose the latter.
Do not be afraid of the times that we are in and do not be scared of any world events. These must happen, so just look up and love Jesus with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength [Mark 12:30, 31]. The Shofar is about to blow and Jesus is about ready to abduct His Bride.
Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken [Luke 21:26].
The Book of the Revelation tells us that this is the way that things must and will end. In God’s minute, perilous times are starting to hit, but hallelujah, there is hope. . .hope in Christ. In fact, there is only one hope and one answer for God’s minute, and that’s a totally committed love relationship with Jesus Christ.
I’m not talking about just loving God on Sunday morning, or on Wednesday midweek services, or when He answers prayer--although we should. I’m talking about a 24/7/365 absolute slobbering love affair with almighty God.
Do you remember when you were first married and you couldn’t stay away from your spouse? You did not want to be apart. You loved each other unconditionally and passionately day in and day out. You didn't want to live without her/him. This is the kind of love I’m talking about for Christ. After all, we are His Bride.
LOOK UP
So. . .love God, worship Him, and look up. Could going through God’s last minute be that simple? In a word, "Yes." However, for those who require more, revert not only to "a" word, but to THE Word Jesus Christ.
Remember these three steps:
1) When terrible times come upon us, "Do not fear."
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet [Matthew 24:6].
2) Get your eyes off of the world. Let the dead bury the dead. Use the three foot rule and take as many with us as we can. It is a mandate from God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth [Colossians 3:2].
Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God [Luke 9:60].
3) Set your eyes toward heaven, because your redemption draweth nigh.
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh [Luke 21:28].
The countdown on God’s minute has begun, 60. . .59. . .58. . .57. . .
"Down to God’s minute."
This simple little phrase started stirring in my spirit. There is a quote that says, "If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get done." It reminded me of God’s perfect timing and how He is seldom early, but is never late, and always on time. . .His time. More times than not, our answers from God come at the last minute, or God’s minute. Our waiting builds faith and gives us focus. . .focus on Christ.
PERILOUS TIMES: Attacking the Body
World history is down to God’s last minute. Human government is about to end and the millennial reign is right around the corner. With the events happening in Syria and the region, things are changing exponentially: management by crisis, economic collapse, the nationalization of services, the deterioration of the family, religious persecution and governmental corruption abounds. These are some perilous times in which we live. What is going on?
The enemy has a complete knowledge of Scripture and knows that his time is short and what the end times holds for him. Consequently, he is releasing an onslaught of spirits in these last days to overwhelm us into turning away from God. He and his minions are attacking the body as a whole and as individuals. However, Genesis 3:1 tells us how the serpent is very subtle.
The enemy will sneak up on us with some innocent and innocuous, mundane thing to lure us unknowingly away from God. For example, you’d be surprised of the amount of confessing Christians who dabble in astrology and horoscopes. Just for fun of course. God’s Word clearly warns us against that practice.
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee [Deuteronomy 18:9-12].
PERILOUS TIMES: Attacking the Individual
Besides astrology, soothsaying, divination, and witchcraft, many other spirits, as roaring lions, roam about looking for whom they may devour. They confound the individual into losing fellowship with God and each other through fear, guilt, shame, regret, contention, bitterness, resentment, anger, jealousy, doubt, unbelief, and the list goes on and on and on. If we do not have a good relationship with God, we will be sucked in.
Over the years, the Bride, having waded through all of these bondages, has lost sight of her identity, destiny, and perceived significance to God. Knowing who we are in Christ, who Christ is in us, and knowing who Christ is through us is pretty much the basis of my new book, which I will release very soon.
RECLAIMING FELLOWSHIP IN GOD’S MINUTE
As Christians, we all knew that these days were coming. However, it’s one thing to talk about and prophecy about a moment in the future, but yet quite another thing to live through it. These are sad and hard times, but at the same time, it is the most exciting time in history to be living.
JESUS CHRIST IS COMING SOON! HALLELUJAH!
We’ll either be looking up to see Him coming through the clouds, or we’ll be looking down as we come back with Christ. The choice is ours. I choose the latter.
Do not be afraid of the times that we are in and do not be scared of any world events. These must happen, so just look up and love Jesus with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength [Mark 12:30, 31]. The Shofar is about to blow and Jesus is about ready to abduct His Bride.
Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken [Luke 21:26].
The Book of the Revelation tells us that this is the way that things must and will end. In God’s minute, perilous times are starting to hit, but hallelujah, there is hope. . .hope in Christ. In fact, there is only one hope and one answer for God’s minute, and that’s a totally committed love relationship with Jesus Christ.
I’m not talking about just loving God on Sunday morning, or on Wednesday midweek services, or when He answers prayer--although we should. I’m talking about a 24/7/365 absolute slobbering love affair with almighty God.
Do you remember when you were first married and you couldn’t stay away from your spouse? You did not want to be apart. You loved each other unconditionally and passionately day in and day out. You didn't want to live without her/him. This is the kind of love I’m talking about for Christ. After all, we are His Bride.
LOOK UP
So. . .love God, worship Him, and look up. Could going through God’s last minute be that simple? In a word, "Yes." However, for those who require more, revert not only to "a" word, but to THE Word Jesus Christ.
Remember these three steps:
1) When terrible times come upon us, "Do not fear."
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet [Matthew 24:6].
2) Get your eyes off of the world. Let the dead bury the dead. Use the three foot rule and take as many with us as we can. It is a mandate from God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth [Colossians 3:2].
Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God [Luke 9:60].
3) Set your eyes toward heaven, because your redemption draweth nigh.
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh [Luke 21:28].
The countdown on God’s minute has begun, 60. . .59. . .58. . .57. . .
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
LOVE VS IN-LOVE
“I’m not in love with you anymore!” she said, while we stood in the kitchen.
“Huh?”
Brilliant retort I know but it’s all I could come up with. This was a 42 year marriage. I was taken back. (I know that’s passive voice but I didn’t feel very active at that moment.)
Wow!
I didn’t know what to say and I had to lean on the center island before I fell down. I was completely shocked when she told me she didn’t have those in-love feelings for me anymore and that she was leaving.
Those seven words devastated me, as they probably would have for anybody who has ever been in love. I’ve learned allot since that day and it all but made me suicidal. I loved that woman with everything I had, even after she told me the bad news, and despite my response.
When I heard those seven words, I had a 50% chance of making the right response. Unfortunately, I was so shocked and hurt that I spit back the wrong answer. Why wouldn’t I be hurt? The woman that I had lived with and loved for all those years had just told me that she was not in love with me anymore.
The Lord has shown me some things lately that I would not have understood back then. Even if I understood them, I would not have been ready to receive them then and what He had for me now. Timing is everything with the Lord. Lazarus had to die so the Lord could bring him back to life and get the glory for doing so [1].
There are many stages to love, but I’d only like to address the two stages that have titled this blog Love vs In-Love.
Cultivating Love
Love takes a while to cultivate. What causes us to go from love to in-love emotions is the highs and lows we have in a love relationship. An in-love emotion is a feeling we get and is a fulfillment, a consummation, if you will, of that shared love. It is a ‘high’ similar to an addicted person. Most generally our hearts beat faster and our feelings heighten. We will say and do things that we normally would not say.
The more in-love highs that we have, the stronger our love becomes. The longer the time span between highs (lows) that we have, the weaker the love gets. If there are too many lows or too long of a period between highs, the couple’s love can wane and separation or possibly divorce could be the result. In my case, divorce was the final end. We still loved each other but our emotions could not verify that love due to the lack of any highs. Our love had waned.
When I got the news in the kitchen that day that my wife did not have those in-love feelings for me anymore, it was a culmination of too many low periods in our marriage. The last four to five years of our marriage, we did nothing together, we did not go anywhere with each other, and we even slept in opposite bedrooms.
Well of course we weren’t in love with each other. Duh!
Restoring in-love feelings
Her “I’m not in love with you anymore” coerced a wrong response in me. However, looking back on that day, I realize now that I misunderstood what she was saying. I took it to mean that she didn’t love me anymore. This was wrong. She did still love me. She just didn’t have a reference point for that love because of the lack of any emotional highs that told her psyche that we were in love. Husband and wife need that reassurance that they are still lovers, that they belong to each other, and that they mean something to one another.
Because of the barrage of attacks perpetrated by the enemy, I fell into a deep depression. It lasted for a long time and I couldn’t pull myself out of it. I finally lost fellowship with the Lord. Christ had not left me, I just wavered in my faith and didn’t rely on the Lord to be that third strand in our threefold cord [2] and I lost fellowship.
Anyway, when I heard those seven words, I was not strong enough and I shot back in like kind. I had heard her words but didn’t hear her heart. I was too blind to see that she was crying out to me, “Please love me!” I was sick, weak, and quite honestly not too smart at the time. I could have said many other things.
For one, I could have taken her in my arms, apologized, and told her that I loved her and would be nothing without her. Would it have made a difference? This is something that I will never know. For my own sanity, I would like to think not. Maybe we were too far gone.
Highs and lows
When I say highs and lows, what do I mean? It could mean anything that gets the heart pumping and anything that stokes our emotions toward the other spouse. When I say this, I’m not necessarily talking about sexual things but it could include this aspect of the marriage.
What I am talking about is the nonsexual contacts throughout the day, and the dinners, the walks, the beach trips, conversations, or anything that says, “I love you.” Each couple is different. Find out what works for you and do it as frequently as possible. This is the fun of a relationship and marriage, the learning of one another.
Question: Do each of us know, without hesitation, how our spouse defines love? What are their values? What are their beliefs?
With the Bible as understood, the best book I have ever read on relationship is, “The Five Languages of Love” by Dr Gary Chapman. Bar none! I highly recommend his book. Buy it…read it…use it [3].
The hidden $20 Bill
Quite a few years ago, we went to a pastor for marriage counseling and he gave us a metaphor that I have never forgotten. It was profound and it fits right in with what I am trying to pass on to you all.
As we sat in his office talking, he took out a $20 bill and placed it on his desk, and said, “See this $20 bill?” I answered in the affirmative.He then said, “Let this $20 bill represent love.” He reached for a sheet of paper and covered up the $20 and said, “Let this represent guilt.” He then took many other sheets and one at a time began to name them, “Let these represent shame, regret, resentment, contention, bitterness, anger, jealousy, financial, and etc.”
He asked us, “Is the $20 bill still there?” Since we did not see him remove it, we answered in the affirmative. He proved it by lifting the stack of papers revealing his $20 bill. He then said, “The trick is not to lose sight of the love that you have for one another. Know who the real enemy is to your marriage [4].”
Because of the lack of highs, this is what happened at the end of our marriage, we lost sight of our love and didn’t know who the real enemy was. Take it from somebody who has been there. Create highs in your marriage and you’ll have a long-lasting relationship with your soul mate until death do you part.
In a love relationship and marriage, each spouse goes from high to high seeking out that heightened feeling toward their spouse trying to fulfill and consummate their love with one another. The more high moments that fill our marriage, the stronger the love will be and the longer the marriage will last. Love is self-sacrifice and thinking about the other at all times. This is true love.
After our visit with the pastor, I created a high for my wife by buying a pretty 5X8 silver picture frame and placed a $20 bill behind the glass and gave it to her. It represented our love and being able to see that love at all times. No matter the garbage brought on by the enemy that covered our love, we would not lose sight of that love for one another. She loved it.
Use this story if you want and buy your own picture frame. It’s going to cost you an extra $20 though. Is your marriage worth it?
______________________
[1] John 11:1-45
[2] Ecclesiastes 4:12
[3] (1) Words of affirmation (2) Quality time (3) Giving of gifts, (4) Service (5) Physical touch.
[4] Ephesian 6:12
“Huh?”
Brilliant retort I know but it’s all I could come up with. This was a 42 year marriage. I was taken back. (I know that’s passive voice but I didn’t feel very active at that moment.)
Wow!
I didn’t know what to say and I had to lean on the center island before I fell down. I was completely shocked when she told me she didn’t have those in-love feelings for me anymore and that she was leaving.
Those seven words devastated me, as they probably would have for anybody who has ever been in love. I’ve learned allot since that day and it all but made me suicidal. I loved that woman with everything I had, even after she told me the bad news, and despite my response.
When I heard those seven words, I had a 50% chance of making the right response. Unfortunately, I was so shocked and hurt that I spit back the wrong answer. Why wouldn’t I be hurt? The woman that I had lived with and loved for all those years had just told me that she was not in love with me anymore.
The Lord has shown me some things lately that I would not have understood back then. Even if I understood them, I would not have been ready to receive them then and what He had for me now. Timing is everything with the Lord. Lazarus had to die so the Lord could bring him back to life and get the glory for doing so [1].
There are many stages to love, but I’d only like to address the two stages that have titled this blog Love vs In-Love.
Cultivating Love
Love takes a while to cultivate. What causes us to go from love to in-love emotions is the highs and lows we have in a love relationship. An in-love emotion is a feeling we get and is a fulfillment, a consummation, if you will, of that shared love. It is a ‘high’ similar to an addicted person. Most generally our hearts beat faster and our feelings heighten. We will say and do things that we normally would not say.
The more in-love highs that we have, the stronger our love becomes. The longer the time span between highs (lows) that we have, the weaker the love gets. If there are too many lows or too long of a period between highs, the couple’s love can wane and separation or possibly divorce could be the result. In my case, divorce was the final end. We still loved each other but our emotions could not verify that love due to the lack of any highs. Our love had waned.
When I got the news in the kitchen that day that my wife did not have those in-love feelings for me anymore, it was a culmination of too many low periods in our marriage. The last four to five years of our marriage, we did nothing together, we did not go anywhere with each other, and we even slept in opposite bedrooms.
Well of course we weren’t in love with each other. Duh!
Restoring in-love feelings
Her “I’m not in love with you anymore” coerced a wrong response in me. However, looking back on that day, I realize now that I misunderstood what she was saying. I took it to mean that she didn’t love me anymore. This was wrong. She did still love me. She just didn’t have a reference point for that love because of the lack of any emotional highs that told her psyche that we were in love. Husband and wife need that reassurance that they are still lovers, that they belong to each other, and that they mean something to one another.
Because of the barrage of attacks perpetrated by the enemy, I fell into a deep depression. It lasted for a long time and I couldn’t pull myself out of it. I finally lost fellowship with the Lord. Christ had not left me, I just wavered in my faith and didn’t rely on the Lord to be that third strand in our threefold cord [2] and I lost fellowship.
Anyway, when I heard those seven words, I was not strong enough and I shot back in like kind. I had heard her words but didn’t hear her heart. I was too blind to see that she was crying out to me, “Please love me!” I was sick, weak, and quite honestly not too smart at the time. I could have said many other things.
For one, I could have taken her in my arms, apologized, and told her that I loved her and would be nothing without her. Would it have made a difference? This is something that I will never know. For my own sanity, I would like to think not. Maybe we were too far gone.
Highs and lows
When I say highs and lows, what do I mean? It could mean anything that gets the heart pumping and anything that stokes our emotions toward the other spouse. When I say this, I’m not necessarily talking about sexual things but it could include this aspect of the marriage.
What I am talking about is the nonsexual contacts throughout the day, and the dinners, the walks, the beach trips, conversations, or anything that says, “I love you.” Each couple is different. Find out what works for you and do it as frequently as possible. This is the fun of a relationship and marriage, the learning of one another.
Question: Do each of us know, without hesitation, how our spouse defines love? What are their values? What are their beliefs?
With the Bible as understood, the best book I have ever read on relationship is, “The Five Languages of Love” by Dr Gary Chapman. Bar none! I highly recommend his book. Buy it…read it…use it [3].
The hidden $20 Bill
Quite a few years ago, we went to a pastor for marriage counseling and he gave us a metaphor that I have never forgotten. It was profound and it fits right in with what I am trying to pass on to you all.
As we sat in his office talking, he took out a $20 bill and placed it on his desk, and said, “See this $20 bill?” I answered in the affirmative.He then said, “Let this $20 bill represent love.” He reached for a sheet of paper and covered up the $20 and said, “Let this represent guilt.” He then took many other sheets and one at a time began to name them, “Let these represent shame, regret, resentment, contention, bitterness, anger, jealousy, financial, and etc.”
He asked us, “Is the $20 bill still there?” Since we did not see him remove it, we answered in the affirmative. He proved it by lifting the stack of papers revealing his $20 bill. He then said, “The trick is not to lose sight of the love that you have for one another. Know who the real enemy is to your marriage [4].”
Because of the lack of highs, this is what happened at the end of our marriage, we lost sight of our love and didn’t know who the real enemy was. Take it from somebody who has been there. Create highs in your marriage and you’ll have a long-lasting relationship with your soul mate until death do you part.
In a love relationship and marriage, each spouse goes from high to high seeking out that heightened feeling toward their spouse trying to fulfill and consummate their love with one another. The more high moments that fill our marriage, the stronger the love will be and the longer the marriage will last. Love is self-sacrifice and thinking about the other at all times. This is true love.
After our visit with the pastor, I created a high for my wife by buying a pretty 5X8 silver picture frame and placed a $20 bill behind the glass and gave it to her. It represented our love and being able to see that love at all times. No matter the garbage brought on by the enemy that covered our love, we would not lose sight of that love for one another. She loved it.
Use this story if you want and buy your own picture frame. It’s going to cost you an extra $20 though. Is your marriage worth it?
______________________
[1] John 11:1-45
[2] Ecclesiastes 4:12
[3] (1) Words of affirmation (2) Quality time (3) Giving of gifts, (4) Service (5) Physical touch.
[4] Ephesian 6:12
Thursday, June 28, 2012
BEWARE THE JUDAS'
The Lord spoke to my heart this morning while sitting at Starbucks and told me that not any of this has caught Him off guard and not to fret [Psa 37:1, 12, 13]. “This” being the decision handed down by SCOTUS.
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
I had to get out of the house and walk it off, So, I headed for my favorite watering hole…Starbucks. I sat outside drinking my coffee when God looked into me and saw my heart. I was praying how I was first a Christian but I was also a Patriot. I knew how things were going to end but yet it was very difficult watching all the corruption going on around me.
I began asking God for forgiveness for this country and for spitting in His eye for the beautiful gift of America that He gave to us, and how some were working behind the scenes trying to destroy her. I did my best to pray for Obama and that he would see the errors of his ways and turn to the Lord.
This is when the Lord spoke to my heart, “Beware the Judas’. There is a divine harmony in my sovereignty and in man’s responsibility. What is written, will happen, said the Lord to me. My plan is sovereign.”
The Lord reminded me of His original plan, which was the Cross. The Cross was always God’s plan and He did not interfere with man’s free will to accomplish it. This was God’s sovereign plan. Man’s responsibility was not only in Judas, who sold out Jesus for 30 pcs of silver, but with those who crucified Jesus. Foreknowledge, predestination, and free will were still intact.
However, the spirit of Judas is alive and well. There are many Judas’ today. God’s sovereign plans include the one world government, but again, beware the Judas’. Many today have sold out Jesus for their 30 pcs of silver. In January, there will be many people standing in line for their 30 pcs.
Will we be standing in that line waiting for our 30 pcs and reward, or will we be standing in Jesus’s line waiting for our reward…”from the Tree of Life?”
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
PROPHECY
Part Three: Prophecy and Israel
It’s hard, if not possible to talk about prophecy, and not talk about Israel. She is at the core of what’s happening today in terms of prophetic events, according to the Bible. If a person wants to follow prophecy, keep your eyes on Israel and put away the newspaper. However, to understand prophecy and why some things are happening today, we should go over a couple of Scriptures so that we can put things into the proper perspective.
Things are starting to heat up in the East and Zechariah 12:2, 3 warns us that Israel will be a cup of trembling [cup means “judgment”] and a burdensome stone for all the nations. She will be the most volatile 35 acres on the planet, but the siege will culminate at Armageddon when the world comes against her. Just when Israel has lost all hope and concedes her plight, Jesus Crist will return with His Saints, and will save the day [Zechariah 2:8, 9; 12:8-10]. Hallelujah!
Genesis 12:1-3 records the call and promises to Abram from God concerning Israel. Abraham is the physical [natural] father of all the Jews and the spiritual father of the church. (That is a lower case “f” on father.) Genesis 15:18 is where God gave the Promised Land to Abraham and his descendants. This was to be an everlasting possession for the Jewish people.
Why does the Arab nation have such a hatred for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people? The reason dates back about four-thousand years during the time of Genesis 16:15, 16 through 17:1-19. Nineteen is our key verse.
V19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Remember now that Abraham already had a son and his name was Ishmael. Ishmael was 14 years old when Isaac was born. Man’s laws said that it was alright to have a concubine and that a man could have more than one woman to bear his children. It was not God’s standard or the standards of today.
Abram and Sarai (Sarah) did not have the faith that she would bear a child for an inheritance for Abram at such an old age. So Abram went in unto Hagar and she conceived Ishmael. To God, Ishmael was an illegitimate son of Abraham [Genesis 22:2]. So in chapter 22:17, 18 of Genesis, God gave the blessing to Isaac and his seed for an everlasting Covenant.
The Arab nation believes that God stole their birthright and gave it to Isaac and that all blessing should have gone to Ishmael, Abraham’s first born. This was the beginning of a 4000 year old war. It will never end voluntarily. Jesus Christ is going to end it.
There is much more but let’s jump ahead to 1 Kings 9:1-3 for one final point before we go into the future end times. Our key verse is verse nine.
V3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
God put His name in the temple mount (in Jerusalem) forever. Remember now what the Lord told Moses in Numbers 33:50-53, 55,
V50 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,
V51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
V52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
V53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
V55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
Fast forward to May 14, 1948 when Israel becomes a nation.
Actually, let’s fast forward to next Monday for the final segment of the topic “prophecy.” We will look at what Israel did, didn’t do, and the consequences of not obeying God, both for Israel and for America.
God bless each and every one of you and thanks for reading.
It’s hard, if not possible to talk about prophecy, and not talk about Israel. She is at the core of what’s happening today in terms of prophetic events, according to the Bible. If a person wants to follow prophecy, keep your eyes on Israel and put away the newspaper. However, to understand prophecy and why some things are happening today, we should go over a couple of Scriptures so that we can put things into the proper perspective.
Things are starting to heat up in the East and Zechariah 12:2, 3 warns us that Israel will be a cup of trembling [cup means “judgment”] and a burdensome stone for all the nations. She will be the most volatile 35 acres on the planet, but the siege will culminate at Armageddon when the world comes against her. Just when Israel has lost all hope and concedes her plight, Jesus Crist will return with His Saints, and will save the day [Zechariah 2:8, 9; 12:8-10]. Hallelujah!
Genesis 12:1-3 records the call and promises to Abram from God concerning Israel. Abraham is the physical [natural] father of all the Jews and the spiritual father of the church. (That is a lower case “f” on father.) Genesis 15:18 is where God gave the Promised Land to Abraham and his descendants. This was to be an everlasting possession for the Jewish people.
Why does the Arab nation have such a hatred for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people? The reason dates back about four-thousand years during the time of Genesis 16:15, 16 through 17:1-19. Nineteen is our key verse.
V19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Remember now that Abraham already had a son and his name was Ishmael. Ishmael was 14 years old when Isaac was born. Man’s laws said that it was alright to have a concubine and that a man could have more than one woman to bear his children. It was not God’s standard or the standards of today.
Abram and Sarai (Sarah) did not have the faith that she would bear a child for an inheritance for Abram at such an old age. So Abram went in unto Hagar and she conceived Ishmael. To God, Ishmael was an illegitimate son of Abraham [Genesis 22:2]. So in chapter 22:17, 18 of Genesis, God gave the blessing to Isaac and his seed for an everlasting Covenant.
The Arab nation believes that God stole their birthright and gave it to Isaac and that all blessing should have gone to Ishmael, Abraham’s first born. This was the beginning of a 4000 year old war. It will never end voluntarily. Jesus Christ is going to end it.
There is much more but let’s jump ahead to 1 Kings 9:1-3 for one final point before we go into the future end times. Our key verse is verse nine.
V3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
God put His name in the temple mount (in Jerusalem) forever. Remember now what the Lord told Moses in Numbers 33:50-53, 55,
V50 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,
V51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
V52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
V53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
V55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
Fast forward to May 14, 1948 when Israel becomes a nation.
Actually, let’s fast forward to next Monday for the final segment of the topic “prophecy.” We will look at what Israel did, didn’t do, and the consequences of not obeying God, both for Israel and for America.
God bless each and every one of you and thanks for reading.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
PROPHECY
Part Two: How to Tell a True Prophet
Last week I mentioned the two most important qualifications of a prophet and those were discernment and a vast knowledge of God’s Word. I have found this to be true in every prophet that I know.
The prophet is a spokesperson for God and not necessarily, but could be, for the prediction of future events. The past is done and gone and we live in the now, but tomorrow is in God’s hands. When the prophet is either teaching or prophesying, as long as the message gels with God’s Word, things are OK, for the most part.
There is no revelation given beyond the Bible. It is God’s history book, and what He spoke, WILL come to pass, exactly as He spoke it. God’s Word is our only way of comparing the accuracy of the true prophet of God. Because of free will, what we believe, whether right or wrong, will dictate to us how accurate the prophet is. We and the prophet could be absolutely wrong.
However, there is one prerequisite for us in comparing who is the real prophet. . .or not, and that is, we need to have discernment as well. We also have to have a very good knowledge of God’s Word so that when a prophet(?) speaks, we will know if it is from God. . .or not.
Remember when the serpent spoke to Eve in the Garden, “. . .Hath God said?” Adam had only one commandment to remember, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:” Granted, we have a lot more to remember, but our survival and victory depend on that knowledge [Matthew 4:4; Matthew 8:8; Matthew 8:16, just to name a few].
Some prophets can sound mighty spiritual, so unless we can counter with what God really said [Romans 3:4; 1 Peter 3:15], we are doomed to the words of the false prophet [Matthew 7:15; 24:11; 24:24; Mark 13:22; Luke 6:26; 1 John 4:1].
A true prophet speaks for God and to know God’s Word is the surest way to know who to believe. However, just when we think that we or the prophet are right, God may prove us both wrong. God is a jealous God [Exodus 34:14] and He wants us to know and follow THE ONE TRUE Prophet, Jesus Christ. How do we know Christ? READ HIS WORD. This is who Christ is [John 1:1]. It is also who we are for God’s Word is a reflection of who we are as well, because He lives within us [1 Corinthians 3:16]. Mankind has lost sight of this.
One final warning: The Lord says not to touch my anointed [1 Chronicles 16:22; Proverbs 105:15]. Where most of us go wrong is that God chooses who He anoints. . .NOT US! So be careful who we denounce. However, we are to test the spirits [1 John 4:1]. Testing and denouncing or castigating are two different things. So, just beware. God may be speaking to you to see your reaction. Remember that it is God who judges and chastises. . .not us.
Earlier I made a rather controversial statement on which I’d like to elaborate: there is no revelation given beyond the Bible. It is why I said for the most part. Each of you reading this will have varied opinions. However, I am going to present this as to how I believe. You are free to comment your opinion. In fact, I’d be interested in your opinions and comments.
Anyway:
Daniel 12:9 tells us, “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” The Lord is talking with Daniel about the end of days and the tribulation. That time, (I believe), is fast approaching. What words or prophecies do Daniels sealed book contain that will spring upon the world when the prophets open his book? Is this sealed book a metaphorical book and only means that when man figures out what is to be in the end times, or is it a literal sealed book that man has yet to find. I believe it is the former.
Nonetheless, my point is, when a prophet gives a word that may or may not sound a little off, be careful that it is not the unsealing of Daniels Book. God has a word for the people of the end of days, and are we willing to touch God’s anointed because it does not match with our theology or what we perceive God’s Word to say and mean? Be careful brothers and sisters. Be careful.
No one can have a discussion on prophecy without mentioning Israel. If we want good indicators of biblical events, put down the newspaper, read the Bible, and look to Israel. Next week, we’ll go over Israel and Bible prophecy. Again, this will not be a comprehensive study, but we can see what is happening today with Israel and maybe some things to come.
I would be interested in your comments and thoughts on my beliefs.
God bless each and every one of you.
________________________________
P.S. – Do any of you have any subjects that you’d like covered in my blog or have a Bible question that you need answered? If I do not know the answer I have a wealth of friends, both in the fivefold ministry, and very knowledgeable lay people who will know the answer.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
PROPHECY
Part One: What is a prophet’s job?
Someone asked me recently what I thought prophecy was and what it meant. The prophetic is multifaceted and people have written books on the subject so in the confines of a few hundred words, this blog will not be all inclusive. I will go over a couple salient points and summarize my thoughts.
Many believe that foretelling the future is all that a prophet does and is what prophecy is all about; future events. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is only a small portion of the prophetic.
It is this believer’s opinion that a prophet of the Lord is first, a teacher. When a prophet holds that office, it is their assignment to explain the Scriptures and what God means when He says such and such. However, and more importantly, he is to tell the people what to do concerning God’s Word.
A prophet is highly gifted in discernment with a vast knowledge and understanding of Scripture. Otherwise, how could they speak for God, which is another aspect/gifting held by the prophet; he expounds on the oracles (precepts) of God and speaks for and through Him. The operative word here, is "through" Him -- or through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will guide us to ALL truth [John 16:13]
Therefore, a prophet’s number one assignment should definitely be that he or she is what God’s Word calls, an Issachar.
And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; -- 1 Chronicles 12:32a
This is what we need the most of today. . .prophetic Issachars. As the Chronicle’s Scripture tells us, Issachars are people who can tell Israel what to do, who have an understanding of the times. Through adoption, all believers are of the kingdom of Israel, also through Halachic law.
Prophets are here to incite people to duty, to convict of sins, and to call those to repentance. They are to instruct kings, to preach of the judgments of God, and to teach relationship with God. If people do not repent and turn from their wicked ways, then the judgments come in the form of things that will happen in the future.
However, they base all those prophecies and judgments on God’s Word. Everything filters through His Word. This is the only way to tell a true prophet. However, there is one prerequisite to knowing the only way to tell a true prophet.
No more room. We’ll see you this coming Monday for the second and final segment on prophecy. God bless you all and see you Monday.
.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
In about
A.D. 85, in Jerusalem, there was a pool, which in the Hebrew language, they
call Bethesda. On its five porches laid a great multitude of sick people, the
blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. The story is that an angel would come down
and stir the water and whoever stepped into the moving water first, it would
make them well of whatever disease they had.
In this
biblical story, there was a man at that pool who had an infirmity for 38 years [1]. Now the Bible does not define his sickness but because he was lying
on a bed (mat) on one of the five porches and could not make it to the water
without help, we have to assume that the man somehow had crippled legs.
On this
particular day, Christ was there and saw the man lying on his mat and already
knew that he’d had the condition for a long time. Then Jesus asked the man
probably the greatest question of all time, “Do you want to get well? [2]” There is a plethora of messages that any pastor could preach on this one question alone.
The same
Spirit that is in Jesus Christ is in us, and through the Holy Spirit, Christ is
still asking us that same question today, “Do you want to get well?” Do we
realize the power that is behind the answer to that one question?
At
first, the question seemed harsh and sarcastic but nothing could be further
from the truth. The reason that the sick people were by the pool waiting for
the angel to stir the water, was that their trust was in the swirling water.
The crippled man told Jesus that, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is
troubled, to put me into the pool but while I am coming, another steps down
before me.” This man’s trust was in someone getting him to the water,
which he thought would heal him.
Although
God does not think that anybody is useless, this guy was pretty close. Now I
can have empathy for his condition but to lie around waiting for someone else
to help or save him is troubling. This guy must have felt very insignificant
and useless. There was a little despair in the crippled man’s voice as well.
We as
believers can figuratively ask the same question of people sometimes when we
throw the Amplified Bible at them, “Do you want to be healed? Have faith, put
it under the Blood, and move on.” With good intentions, we speak from our healing. We do not put ourselves in
their position and place of growth. Many times it is us who need the question.
Who do we believe and trust in to get us to the water, or better yet, who do we
trust in to heal us.
Christ’s
death made it possible for us to pick up our bed and walk [3] no matter what the infirmity. If we can walk in the Spirit, maybe one
day we will walk with our physical legs. If we don’t, then we continue to walk
in the Spirit. It is prudent to get our eyes off of our sickness and onto the
healer.
Our
infirmity is not who we are. The mentality of feeling used, useless, and
insignificant is not who we are. At the risk of speaking from my healing, the
most important thing we can do is answer Jesus’ question: “Do we want to get well?” Keep in mind
though that it is a process.
________________________________________
[1] John 5:1-15
[2] John 5:6b NIV
[3] John 5:8
________________________________________
[1] John 5:1-15
[2] John 5:6b NIV
[3] John 5:8
Monday, April 23, 2012
OF OUR OWN VOLITION
To fulfill prophecy, Christ knew that He had to die on the Cross to purchase His Bride. He was God but He was also man and He knew that the pain would be excruciating. Therefore, when Christ knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to His Father to remove the cup from Him He had to be thinking about the possibility of the cup of premature death through the soldiers that Judas had left to fetch. Prophecy told Him that He must die on the tree [1]. Christ came to do many things but He also came to fulfill prophecy.
With what Christ had in front of Him as He prayed in Gethsemane, what could possibly keep us away from acceptance and submission to the Cross? Christ went through it; all we have to do is accept it. We all have issues that keep us away. Me, I hated to fail. . .at anything.
Although I’ve done some good things in my life, I’d always perceived myself as having fallen short, either in deed or in measure, probably stemming from a strict earthly father. I’d started out loving God and had ended up in the hog pen and drifting away from the Lord. This was not due to my dad, but because of my own bad decisions.
Why should I get back into Christianity if I was just going to fail at it [2]? I knew that everybody fails at Christianity. No one is righteous, no not one [3]. Why should I think that God wanted anything to do with me? I’d already let Him down once. It didn’t make any sense to me. This wasn’t just a wife, parent, sibling, or friend, that I’d let down, this was God, the Creator of the universe. I struggled with this for the longest time.
Then I realized that this was a lie straight from the pit of Hell. Yes, we all miss the mark, but He forgives us and as long as we get back up, we succeed. It’s when we do not get back up. . .that we fail. I recommitted myself to Christ and submitted to His authority.
Our identity is who we are in Christ and our destiny is who Christ is in us. Our perceived significance to God is who Christ is through us. It is the perfect threefold cord: us in Him, Him in us, and both of us in each other through Him [4]. We can accomplish anything through Him [5].
___________________________________________________
[1] Matthew 20:18, 19; Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13
[2] Romans 5:12
[3] Romans 3:10
[4] Ecclesiastes 4:12;
[5] Philippians 4:13
Saturday, April 14, 2012
SUBMISSION
.
Part Four of a Four Part Series
There are a couple basic principles of submission that we need to address as part of “The Big Four.”
Because of the judgment against Eve in the Garden, the word "submit,” primarily spoke to the woman. Other books in the Bible also speak to the submission of the woman. For example, there are seven verses in the New Testament that addresses the submission of the wife to the husband; Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, and 1 Peter 2:13. There is one place that speaks to the submission of us to God [1] and three other verses that speak to the submission of man to others [2].
In any case,
There has been much misunderstanding on this point all the way around. I have found three incidences where a woman either does not, or will not submit to her own husband. Maybe you know of more. Here are my three.
* Unbalanced Marriage: If the wife is a believer and the husband is not a believer, she may feel a need not to submit to him. The Bible corrects this supposition [3]. If this is the marriage balance, then they shouldn’t be together in the first place [4]. Sorry, don’t shoot the messenger. Take it up with the Lord. If this is the case, then it is neither here nor there, because many marriages have this balance. It is preferable that they work it out in hopes of the salvation for the other mate who is not a believer [5].
* Out of God’s will: If the husband makes a decision that is contrary to the will of God, then the wife will not, nor should she, submit to the husband [6]. She should submit to the Word and will of God. If the husband has not been teaching the wife then she will probably not know if he is doing something against the will of God unless she amerces herself in God’s Word as well. Learning the Scriptures is an individual thing and one should not solely rely on another for its teaching.
*Lack of submission: Many times the wife will not submit to the husband because she has never seen him submit to anything, let alone to God. Sometimes the husband does not show leadership by failing to submit to God or any other circumstance.
These three could very well be for the wife as well.
___________________________________________________
1 James 4:7
2 1 Corinthians 16:16; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5
3 1 Corinthians 7:12-16
4 2 Corinthians 6:14
5 1 Corinthians 7:16
6 Colossians 3:18
.
Part Four of a Four Part Series
There are a couple basic principles of submission that we need to address as part of “The Big Four.”
Because of the judgment against Eve in the Garden, the word "submit,” primarily spoke to the woman. Other books in the Bible also speak to the submission of the woman. For example, there are seven verses in the New Testament that addresses the submission of the wife to the husband; Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, and 1 Peter 2:13. There is one place that speaks to the submission of us to God [1] and three other verses that speak to the submission of man to others [2].
In any case,
There has been much misunderstanding on this point all the way around. I have found three incidences where a woman either does not, or will not submit to her own husband. Maybe you know of more. Here are my three.
* Unbalanced Marriage: If the wife is a believer and the husband is not a believer, she may feel a need not to submit to him. The Bible corrects this supposition [3]. If this is the marriage balance, then they shouldn’t be together in the first place [4]. Sorry, don’t shoot the messenger. Take it up with the Lord. If this is the case, then it is neither here nor there, because many marriages have this balance. It is preferable that they work it out in hopes of the salvation for the other mate who is not a believer [5].
* Out of God’s will: If the husband makes a decision that is contrary to the will of God, then the wife will not, nor should she, submit to the husband [6]. She should submit to the Word and will of God. If the husband has not been teaching the wife then she will probably not know if he is doing something against the will of God unless she amerces herself in God’s Word as well. Learning the Scriptures is an individual thing and one should not solely rely on another for its teaching.
*Lack of submission: Many times the wife will not submit to the husband because she has never seen him submit to anything, let alone to God. Sometimes the husband does not show leadership by failing to submit to God or any other circumstance.
These three could very well be for the wife as well.
___________________________________________________
1 James 4:7
2 1 Corinthians 16:16; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5
3 1 Corinthians 7:12-16
4 2 Corinthians 6:14
5 1 Corinthians 7:16
6 Colossians 3:18
.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
HUMILITY
.
Number three of a four part series
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word humility as a state and quality of being humble, not proud. A believer who is humble of heart walks in the fruits of the spirit, which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance, above which, there is no law [1].
Every time we do not submit to one another or seek control over our spouse, not wanting anyone to be over us, we walk in pride. This is the lack of humility. God told us to submit to one another and when we don’t, we are saying that we know more than God.
We can then repent, which means to go in the opposite direction, which is humility. If we treat each other in truth, respect, and humility, with a submissive acumen, we will attain togetherness. If not. . .
_________________
[1} Galatians 5:22,23
.
Number three of a four part series
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word humility as a state and quality of being humble, not proud. A believer who is humble of heart walks in the fruits of the spirit, which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance, above which, there is no law [1].
Every time we do not submit to one another or seek control over our spouse, not wanting anyone to be over us, we walk in pride. This is the lack of humility. God told us to submit to one another and when we don’t, we are saying that we know more than God.
We can then repent, which means to go in the opposite direction, which is humility. If we treat each other in truth, respect, and humility, with a submissive acumen, we will attain togetherness. If not. . .
_________________
[1} Galatians 5:22,23
.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
RESPECT
,
Number two of a four part series
Respect for one another is tantamount to a good relationship. Although people have probably said it a number of times about separated and divorced people that they fell out of love, it is my contention that we don’t fall out of love, but we fall out of respect. There are reasons for falling out of love but buried at the root of this is the lack of respect for the other. Granted, woman fall out of respect and men might fall out of love, but there is a respect issue with both. Otherwise, why does the man fall out of love?
When your significant other says that he/she isn’t in love with you any more, look for a respect issue. They have lost respect somewhere along the line. It is up to us, through our conversation, to find the issue and rectify it, or we are heading for divorce court. To have and gain respect, we have to be respect-able. For starters, the big four come to mind.
When my wife told me one day that she didn’t love me anymore and was leaving, I searched my soul for an answer. The last few months of our marriage had been ugly for us, spiritually, financially, emotionally, and physically. I am not proud to say but it was more than I could handle. I was not a good leader at the time and fell into a deep depression. That was more than she could handle and gave me the awful news one morning in the kitchen.
I loved her deeply but the depression was more than I could come out of then. I did finally pull myself together and God healed me of the depression but it was too late for our marriage. I tried for an entire year to win back her heart but could not do so. She had lost respect for me and I could not regain it. Gaining back respect is a long and hard process and to her, I was not worth it.
I can speak from experience brothers and sisters that being respectable in the eyes of your spouse is a key principle. When things are dire and you feel yourself slipping away from God, fight it with everything that you have. I was not strong enough at the time but since then I have developed such closeness to God that it cannot be broken. I will never allow myself to be in that predicament again. It cost me too much the first time.
V12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken [Ecclesiastes 4:12].
We will never lose the love that God has for us but there is no doubt a time when He is disappointed in us. Our vertical relationship with God is a key to our horizontal relationships with each other.
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Number two of a four part series
Respect for one another is tantamount to a good relationship. Although people have probably said it a number of times about separated and divorced people that they fell out of love, it is my contention that we don’t fall out of love, but we fall out of respect. There are reasons for falling out of love but buried at the root of this is the lack of respect for the other. Granted, woman fall out of respect and men might fall out of love, but there is a respect issue with both. Otherwise, why does the man fall out of love?
When your significant other says that he/she isn’t in love with you any more, look for a respect issue. They have lost respect somewhere along the line. It is up to us, through our conversation, to find the issue and rectify it, or we are heading for divorce court. To have and gain respect, we have to be respect-able. For starters, the big four come to mind.
When my wife told me one day that she didn’t love me anymore and was leaving, I searched my soul for an answer. The last few months of our marriage had been ugly for us, spiritually, financially, emotionally, and physically. I am not proud to say but it was more than I could handle. I was not a good leader at the time and fell into a deep depression. That was more than she could handle and gave me the awful news one morning in the kitchen.
I loved her deeply but the depression was more than I could come out of then. I did finally pull myself together and God healed me of the depression but it was too late for our marriage. I tried for an entire year to win back her heart but could not do so. She had lost respect for me and I could not regain it. Gaining back respect is a long and hard process and to her, I was not worth it.
I can speak from experience brothers and sisters that being respectable in the eyes of your spouse is a key principle. When things are dire and you feel yourself slipping away from God, fight it with everything that you have. I was not strong enough at the time but since then I have developed such closeness to God that it cannot be broken. I will never allow myself to be in that predicament again. It cost me too much the first time.
V12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken [Ecclesiastes 4:12].
We will never lose the love that God has for us but there is no doubt a time when He is disappointed in us. Our vertical relationship with God is a key to our horizontal relationships with each other.
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Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Big Four
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Truth
Truth, respect, submission, and humility are what I like to call, “The Big Four.” Without these four, we cannot hope to live in oneness and harmony with each other or with God. Until we can accept God’s unconditional love for us, live in His truth, respect each other, and submit to one another in a spirit of humbleness, then we are heading for divorce court or a busted up relationship. We'll look at each one of these a little closer in the coming three weeks.
Let’s just cut to the chase, nobody likes a liar [1]. If we want to overcome before the judgment, then we need to be justified in our sayings, to which Romans 3:4 attests. Solidifying ourselves in the truth can only help to transform us into His image. The Lord gave us the Word so we could learn and manifest the truth [2] but sometimes this can present a problem as well.
Sometimes there are differences doctrinally and we argue the truth amongst ourselves. The Bible tells us to give the truth [3], not to argue the truth [4]. Yet, some get very protective of their interpretation of Scripture. However, there are only five essential doctrines to which there are no compromises:
1. The deity of Christ (John 1:1; John 8:58; 1 John 4:2, 3)
2. Salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:8, 9; Galatians 5:4)
3. Resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17)
4. Gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
5. Monotheism (1 Timothy 2:5)
Everything else is up for discussion and is not a deal breaker in terms of the Kingdom and in the scheme of things.
There is unity [5] in essential doctrine and liberty in non-essential doctrine [6], but we should not let our liberty be a stumbling block for others, for in all things there is charity [7]. The truth starts at the Cross and before we can live in oneness and harmony with each other, we first need to learn from God how to do this [8]. Given what we just learned about essential and non-essential doctrine we can see what the truth is and what the truth may or may not be.
Everybody has their own facts but there is only one truth, Jesus Christ is God, is the son of God, who died for us, was crucified, who saves us by His grace, and who arose from the dead. This is the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ [9]. However, we are to give the truth in a loving manner [10].
It doesn’t matter if you believe in pre, mid, or post tribulation, a Saturday or a Sunday Sabbath, or if you believe in eternal security or not. It doesn’t even matter if you believe in sprinkling or dunking. As long as you believe that Jesus Christ is God, that He was born of a virgin, died on the Cross for our sins, and arose from the dead, then you are my brother or sister-in-the-Lord.
Have a great day brothers and sisters. And to the rest, have a fantastic day as well and may the Lord richly bless each and every one of you.
__________________________________________
[1] Romans 3:4
[2] 2 Corinthians 4:2
[3] 2 Corinthians 6:7 and many others too numerous to list.
[4] Could not find a Scripture that told us to argue the truth, and that’s my point.
[5] Romans 15:5-7
[6] Romans 14, 15
[7] 1 Corinthians 13:13
[8] Ecclesiastes 4:12
[9] 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
[10] Ephesians 4:15; 1 John 3:18
.
Truth
Truth, respect, submission, and humility are what I like to call, “The Big Four.” Without these four, we cannot hope to live in oneness and harmony with each other or with God. Until we can accept God’s unconditional love for us, live in His truth, respect each other, and submit to one another in a spirit of humbleness, then we are heading for divorce court or a busted up relationship. We'll look at each one of these a little closer in the coming three weeks.
Let’s just cut to the chase, nobody likes a liar [1]. If we want to overcome before the judgment, then we need to be justified in our sayings, to which Romans 3:4 attests. Solidifying ourselves in the truth can only help to transform us into His image. The Lord gave us the Word so we could learn and manifest the truth [2] but sometimes this can present a problem as well.
Sometimes there are differences doctrinally and we argue the truth amongst ourselves. The Bible tells us to give the truth [3], not to argue the truth [4]. Yet, some get very protective of their interpretation of Scripture. However, there are only five essential doctrines to which there are no compromises:
1. The deity of Christ (John 1:1; John 8:58; 1 John 4:2, 3)
2. Salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:8, 9; Galatians 5:4)
3. Resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17)
4. Gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
5. Monotheism (1 Timothy 2:5)
Everything else is up for discussion and is not a deal breaker in terms of the Kingdom and in the scheme of things.
There is unity [5] in essential doctrine and liberty in non-essential doctrine [6], but we should not let our liberty be a stumbling block for others, for in all things there is charity [7]. The truth starts at the Cross and before we can live in oneness and harmony with each other, we first need to learn from God how to do this [8]. Given what we just learned about essential and non-essential doctrine we can see what the truth is and what the truth may or may not be.
Everybody has their own facts but there is only one truth, Jesus Christ is God, is the son of God, who died for us, was crucified, who saves us by His grace, and who arose from the dead. This is the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ [9]. However, we are to give the truth in a loving manner [10].
It doesn’t matter if you believe in pre, mid, or post tribulation, a Saturday or a Sunday Sabbath, or if you believe in eternal security or not. It doesn’t even matter if you believe in sprinkling or dunking. As long as you believe that Jesus Christ is God, that He was born of a virgin, died on the Cross for our sins, and arose from the dead, then you are my brother or sister-in-the-Lord.
Have a great day brothers and sisters. And to the rest, have a fantastic day as well and may the Lord richly bless each and every one of you.
__________________________________________
[1] Romans 3:4
[2] 2 Corinthians 4:2
[3] 2 Corinthians 6:7 and many others too numerous to list.
[4] Could not find a Scripture that told us to argue the truth, and that’s my point.
[5] Romans 15:5-7
[6] Romans 14, 15
[7] 1 Corinthians 13:13
[8] Ecclesiastes 4:12
[9] 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
[10] Ephesians 4:15; 1 John 3:18
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Monday, March 12, 2012
KINGDOM LIVING
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The Kingdom of God/heaven is in us―"In Christ." Isn't it strange that Christians today seldom discuss what Jesus talked about the most; the Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of heaven, they are both the same thing). However, for our purposes, we will refer to it as the Kingdom of God.
The only thing that can transform us spiritually is by "following Christ." However, the action required in the "following" part, requires a clear understanding of the Kingdom of God, which is, acceptance by God’s grace "In Christ." By knowing who we are “In Christ” and living that concept, we will recapture our identity, be free from bondage, and save our marriages and relationships from destruction. Yes, it’s that simple.
Being more than a Sunday Christian allows us to live out our convictions. Our character and actions will bear witness to whether our belief and value system is either a conviction or a preference. They say if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
Below is a mini-list for researching the Kingdom of God and Kingdom living. Prayerfully, you will find some answers for which you are looking.
Kingdom Living Scripture
• John the Baptist announced the Kingdom in Matthew 3:1, 2
• Jesus later came into Galilee proclaiming it in Mark 1:15
• Much of Christ's teaching dealt with the Kingdom of God in Matt 6:33; Matt 12:28; Matt 19:24; Luke 6:20; John 3:15; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; Gal 5:21; Col 4:11 -- the list goes on and on. Luke is loaded as is Matthew and Mark.
• Most all of Jesus' parables pictured the Kingdom in Mark 4:30-33;
• The message of the Kingdom of God was still the message after Christ's resurrection. Acts 1:3
• It was the message of the early Apostles in Acts 8:12; 19:8
• In Matthew 24:14 Jesus makes plain that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to the whole world at the end of the age.
The world today desperately needs the message of the kingdom! We live in a time when wicked spirits and earthly things rule millions of people and overcome them. Unfortunately, it seems that many of these people are Christians.
.
The Kingdom of God/heaven is in us―"In Christ." Isn't it strange that Christians today seldom discuss what Jesus talked about the most; the Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of heaven, they are both the same thing). However, for our purposes, we will refer to it as the Kingdom of God.
The only thing that can transform us spiritually is by "following Christ." However, the action required in the "following" part, requires a clear understanding of the Kingdom of God, which is, acceptance by God’s grace "In Christ." By knowing who we are “In Christ” and living that concept, we will recapture our identity, be free from bondage, and save our marriages and relationships from destruction. Yes, it’s that simple.
Being more than a Sunday Christian allows us to live out our convictions. Our character and actions will bear witness to whether our belief and value system is either a conviction or a preference. They say if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
Below is a mini-list for researching the Kingdom of God and Kingdom living. Prayerfully, you will find some answers for which you are looking.
Kingdom Living Scripture
• John the Baptist announced the Kingdom in Matthew 3:1, 2
• Jesus later came into Galilee proclaiming it in Mark 1:15
• Much of Christ's teaching dealt with the Kingdom of God in Matt 6:33; Matt 12:28; Matt 19:24; Luke 6:20; John 3:15; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; Gal 5:21; Col 4:11 -- the list goes on and on. Luke is loaded as is Matthew and Mark.
• Most all of Jesus' parables pictured the Kingdom in Mark 4:30-33;
• The message of the Kingdom of God was still the message after Christ's resurrection. Acts 1:3
• It was the message of the early Apostles in Acts 8:12; 19:8
• In Matthew 24:14 Jesus makes plain that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to the whole world at the end of the age.
The world today desperately needs the message of the kingdom! We live in a time when wicked spirits and earthly things rule millions of people and overcome them. Unfortunately, it seems that many of these people are Christians.
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Monday, February 27, 2012
DEJA VU
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Have you ever wondered why Muslims hate Israel and America? You can trace this hatred all the way back to Genesis in the Bible. . .Genesis 17:19 to be exact.
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Verse 19 above says that God was going to establish His Everlasting Covenant through Isaac, which is OK until we remember that 14 years prior, unto Abram was born a son, whose name was Ishmael [1]. Therein lies the rub, Muslims believe that Ishmael is the chosen one and that all blessings should go through him. After all, Ishmael was the first born to Abram.
The only trouble is, Ishmael was born of an Egyptian slave girl and not born of Abram’s wife, Sarai. This was a lack of faith on their part because God promised Abram earlier that he would have an heir, and it wasn’t to be Eliezer [2].
Tired of waiting, Sarai asked Abram to go in unto her handmaiden for the purpose of bearing Abram an heir since Sarai was barren. Well, déjà vu, just like Adam acquiesced to Eve’s influence, Abram succumbed to Sarai’s influence, and he agreed to bed Hagar [3]. Another devastating decision for mankind.
To God, Ishmael was Abram’s illegitimate child, whereas Isaac was Abraham’s [4] only son [5] through Sarai, his wife. God would establish His covenant through Isaac who is the seed through which Christ would come [6].
This is the problem even unto this day and according to the Muslims, until they wipe Israel and America off the face of the Earth, the Jihad [7] will never end. Muslims think they have a score to settle with Israel, which is the seed of Isaac.
They also think they have a score to settle with America, which, through adoption, and according to the Halaka [8], are the seed of Isaac through the belief in and the acceptance of Jesus Christ. Christians are Jewish through their acceptance of Christ who, as we have learned is the seed of Isaac.
However, it is all moot, as Christ is coming back for His Bride to set up His Kingdom reign and we shall ever be with the Lord [9].
HALLELUJAH!
________________________
[1] Genesis 16:15
[2] Genesis 15:4
[3] Genesis 16:2
[4] Genesis 17:4, Abram renamed Abraham; Genesis 17:15, Sarai renamed Sarah.
[5] Genesis 22:2
[6] Matthew 1:1-16
[7] spiritual and holy war
[8] Jewish law
[9] 1Thessalonians 4:17
.
Have you ever wondered why Muslims hate Israel and America? You can trace this hatred all the way back to Genesis in the Bible. . .Genesis 17:19 to be exact.
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Verse 19 above says that God was going to establish His Everlasting Covenant through Isaac, which is OK until we remember that 14 years prior, unto Abram was born a son, whose name was Ishmael [1]. Therein lies the rub, Muslims believe that Ishmael is the chosen one and that all blessings should go through him. After all, Ishmael was the first born to Abram.
The only trouble is, Ishmael was born of an Egyptian slave girl and not born of Abram’s wife, Sarai. This was a lack of faith on their part because God promised Abram earlier that he would have an heir, and it wasn’t to be Eliezer [2].
Tired of waiting, Sarai asked Abram to go in unto her handmaiden for the purpose of bearing Abram an heir since Sarai was barren. Well, déjà vu, just like Adam acquiesced to Eve’s influence, Abram succumbed to Sarai’s influence, and he agreed to bed Hagar [3]. Another devastating decision for mankind.
To God, Ishmael was Abram’s illegitimate child, whereas Isaac was Abraham’s [4] only son [5] through Sarai, his wife. God would establish His covenant through Isaac who is the seed through which Christ would come [6].
This is the problem even unto this day and according to the Muslims, until they wipe Israel and America off the face of the Earth, the Jihad [7] will never end. Muslims think they have a score to settle with Israel, which is the seed of Isaac.
They also think they have a score to settle with America, which, through adoption, and according to the Halaka [8], are the seed of Isaac through the belief in and the acceptance of Jesus Christ. Christians are Jewish through their acceptance of Christ who, as we have learned is the seed of Isaac.
However, it is all moot, as Christ is coming back for His Bride to set up His Kingdom reign and we shall ever be with the Lord [9].
HALLELUJAH!
________________________
[1] Genesis 16:15
[2] Genesis 15:4
[3] Genesis 16:2
[4] Genesis 17:4, Abram renamed Abraham; Genesis 17:15, Sarai renamed Sarah.
[5] Genesis 22:2
[6] Matthew 1:1-16
[7] spiritual and holy war
[8] Jewish law
[9] 1Thessalonians 4:17
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Wednesday, February 8, 2012
I AM FORGIVEN
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“I’m not in love with you anymore!” she said, while we stood in the kitchen.
“Huh?”
Brilliant retort I know but it’s all I could come up with at the time.
I didn’t know what to say and I had to lean on the center island before I fell down. I couldn’t believe that she told me she didn’t have those in-love feelings for me anymore and that she was leaving. It was out of the blue. It was over.
Here I was, newly divorced and coming from a 42 year marriage. What was I going to do with all the despair I was feeling? What was I to do with all the emptiness, the regret, the guilt, and the shame I had for letting down my wife, family, and God? I had feelings of what could have been? I hadn’t even got to the sick and nauseating feeling in my stomach yet or the sense of failure I had in my gut. I’d just lost my identity, my role, my purpose in life, and my wife.
I was so ashamed that I couldn’t even talk to God. I was really concerned about what God thought about me. I felt condemned because I was a Christian man who was supposed to be the spiritual leader of his home. This was not supposed to be happening. I’d failed God. . .again.
We had been down this road before because this was the third time at the lawyer’s office. The first time we’d been to the lawyers, we stopped the divorce before it became final. A few years later, the second time, we’d divorced for three years but in the meantime, she accepted Christ. Because of the kids and holidays, we began dating again and the Lord got us back together. We remarried.
Given everything we’d been through, the Lord prompted me to write a book on our testimony. I spent three years writing that book and finally published it. I was on the top of the world. God had saved my marriage, gave me the ministry of writing for Him, which gave me a testimony. This all meant a great deal to me, as I didn't really think that I had a testimony with which to brag on God when I evangelized for the Lord. (I had a lot to learn.)
Yet, there I sat at the lawyer’s office for the third time. I’d lost everything, my wife, my home, my testimony. . .everything. We divorced.
It’s been five years now and I am OK. I still think about how I let down and failed God from time to time but most of the time I can shake it off because I know where the condemnation comes from.
For example, one week ago I was watching “Touching Lives” and at the end of the program, my favorite guy came on. . .Max Lucado. He talked about the many times we want to say something -- but we can’t. I was having that trouble that night as I sat and watched the tube trying to get some encouragement. I had been praying but nothing was coming, until. . .
Max talked about the business man who just lost his job and wanted to be able to say that he was successful at his work. . .but he couldn’t. Or how the divorced person wished he could say that they had a happy marriage. . .but couldn’t. He spoke of the barren couple who wanted to say how great it was to have children running around the house. . .but they couldn’t. Or the man who was just diagnosed with cancer wishing he could say that he was healthy. . .but he couldn’t.
I immediately thought about how I wished I could say that I had had a happy marriage. . . but couldn’t. I wanted to be able to say that I hadn’t ever let down God. . .but I couldn’t. I wished I could say that I have a testimony. . .but I couldn’t. I’d lost mine.
Then in true MAX Lucado fashion, he gave his take-away from the little sermonette and said, “Of the many things that we can’t say, there is one thing that we can say with confidence; if we’ve placed our faith in Jesus Christ, ‘We are forgiven’”
I was in such a state, I couldn’t hold back. I sat there in my living room in the wee hours of the morning, bawling my eyes out like a little baby as I raised my hands to Christ and thanking him passionately. Through my sobs, I felt as though God had sent that message directly to me through Max Lucado, telling me that I had a testimony. . .”You are forgiven!” I'd had that testimony all along.
“Hallelujah, I am forgiven! Thank you Jesus for loving me and never leaving me no matter what I do. Thank you for you and for my testimony!”
So, if anyone out there who is reading this feels like they either do not have a testimony or feel that they’ve lost one because of a similar trauma in their lives, you can use mine. There is enough of Christ to go around. Come to or back to Jesus and be forgiven. He will never divorce you.
v5 . . .I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee [Hebrews 13:5].
v35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
v38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
V39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord [Romans 8: 35, 38, 39].
.
“I’m not in love with you anymore!” she said, while we stood in the kitchen.
“Huh?”
Brilliant retort I know but it’s all I could come up with at the time.
I didn’t know what to say and I had to lean on the center island before I fell down. I couldn’t believe that she told me she didn’t have those in-love feelings for me anymore and that she was leaving. It was out of the blue. It was over.
Here I was, newly divorced and coming from a 42 year marriage. What was I going to do with all the despair I was feeling? What was I to do with all the emptiness, the regret, the guilt, and the shame I had for letting down my wife, family, and God? I had feelings of what could have been? I hadn’t even got to the sick and nauseating feeling in my stomach yet or the sense of failure I had in my gut. I’d just lost my identity, my role, my purpose in life, and my wife.
I was so ashamed that I couldn’t even talk to God. I was really concerned about what God thought about me. I felt condemned because I was a Christian man who was supposed to be the spiritual leader of his home. This was not supposed to be happening. I’d failed God. . .again.
We had been down this road before because this was the third time at the lawyer’s office. The first time we’d been to the lawyers, we stopped the divorce before it became final. A few years later, the second time, we’d divorced for three years but in the meantime, she accepted Christ. Because of the kids and holidays, we began dating again and the Lord got us back together. We remarried.
Given everything we’d been through, the Lord prompted me to write a book on our testimony. I spent three years writing that book and finally published it. I was on the top of the world. God had saved my marriage, gave me the ministry of writing for Him, which gave me a testimony. This all meant a great deal to me, as I didn't really think that I had a testimony with which to brag on God when I evangelized for the Lord. (I had a lot to learn.)
Yet, there I sat at the lawyer’s office for the third time. I’d lost everything, my wife, my home, my testimony. . .everything. We divorced.
It’s been five years now and I am OK. I still think about how I let down and failed God from time to time but most of the time I can shake it off because I know where the condemnation comes from.
For example, one week ago I was watching “Touching Lives” and at the end of the program, my favorite guy came on. . .Max Lucado. He talked about the many times we want to say something -- but we can’t. I was having that trouble that night as I sat and watched the tube trying to get some encouragement. I had been praying but nothing was coming, until. . .
Max talked about the business man who just lost his job and wanted to be able to say that he was successful at his work. . .but he couldn’t. Or how the divorced person wished he could say that they had a happy marriage. . .but couldn’t. He spoke of the barren couple who wanted to say how great it was to have children running around the house. . .but they couldn’t. Or the man who was just diagnosed with cancer wishing he could say that he was healthy. . .but he couldn’t.
I immediately thought about how I wished I could say that I had had a happy marriage. . . but couldn’t. I wanted to be able to say that I hadn’t ever let down God. . .but I couldn’t. I wished I could say that I have a testimony. . .but I couldn’t. I’d lost mine.
Then in true MAX Lucado fashion, he gave his take-away from the little sermonette and said, “Of the many things that we can’t say, there is one thing that we can say with confidence; if we’ve placed our faith in Jesus Christ, ‘We are forgiven’”
I was in such a state, I couldn’t hold back. I sat there in my living room in the wee hours of the morning, bawling my eyes out like a little baby as I raised my hands to Christ and thanking him passionately. Through my sobs, I felt as though God had sent that message directly to me through Max Lucado, telling me that I had a testimony. . .”You are forgiven!” I'd had that testimony all along.
“Hallelujah, I am forgiven! Thank you Jesus for loving me and never leaving me no matter what I do. Thank you for you and for my testimony!”
So, if anyone out there who is reading this feels like they either do not have a testimony or feel that they’ve lost one because of a similar trauma in their lives, you can use mine. There is enough of Christ to go around. Come to or back to Jesus and be forgiven. He will never divorce you.
v5 . . .I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee [Hebrews 13:5].
v35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
v38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
V39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord [Romans 8: 35, 38, 39].
.
Monday, February 6, 2012
JEWISH MARRIAGE CUSTOMS: Part Fifteen
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NOTE: This is the last article in this series. I pray that you have enjoyed it and have learned something about God's Word. God bless you all and thank you all so much for following my blog.
Wedding Feast
The bride and groom, along with all the guests would then celebrate with a wedding feast, the marriage supper. This would be a celebration of life [1]. Here the bride and groom would drink a second cup of wine and the festivities would be over. They considered them to be one and complete. In many sects, until entering the Huppah, they were not considered legally married.
Parallels to the Church. . .
Rev 19:10 says, “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” What a great celebration this will be. We will meet all the saints who have gone before us. We will meet Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Paul, and all the others that we have been reading about all these years. All of our friends and relatives who have gone before us will be there.
Best of all we will be one with God and glorified with Him [2]. What Jesus willed in John 17:24 will come to pass. (Is there any doubt?) We will then partake of that second and final cup with Jesus as He promised in Matthew 26:29 and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever [3]. Hallelujah!
__________________________________________
[1] Lichaim
[2] Revelation 21:3, 22, 23
[3] 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 21:3
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NOTE: This is the last article in this series. I pray that you have enjoyed it and have learned something about God's Word. God bless you all and thank you all so much for following my blog.
Wedding Feast
The bride and groom, along with all the guests would then celebrate with a wedding feast, the marriage supper. This would be a celebration of life [1]. Here the bride and groom would drink a second cup of wine and the festivities would be over. They considered them to be one and complete. In many sects, until entering the Huppah, they were not considered legally married.
Parallels to the Church. . .
Rev 19:10 says, “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” What a great celebration this will be. We will meet all the saints who have gone before us. We will meet Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Paul, and all the others that we have been reading about all these years. All of our friends and relatives who have gone before us will be there.
Best of all we will be one with God and glorified with Him [2]. What Jesus willed in John 17:24 will come to pass. (Is there any doubt?) We will then partake of that second and final cup with Jesus as He promised in Matthew 26:29 and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever [3]. Hallelujah!
__________________________________________
[1] Lichaim
[2] Revelation 21:3, 22, 23
[3] 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 21:3
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
JEWISH MARRIAGE CUSTOMS: Part Fourteen
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Wedding Chamber (Nissu’in)
Once they were back at the father’s house, the couple would enter what they called the Huppah. This was the second ceremony and required by the Talmud (Jewish oral law). The Huppah was originally a four-posted structure with an enclosed cloth covering. It very well could have been any structure or room that had been designated as the Huppah and belonging to the groom.
Here the wedding ceremony would take place and then the taking (consummation) of the bride (Nissu’in). Nissu’in literally means, "Taking." The covering was sometimes a talit, which is a Jewish prayer shawl. At the ceremony, the groom and the bride wore crowns and they dressed extravagantly.
After the ceremony, the bride and groom entered the huppah for seven days and there they would consummate the marriage. Only until recently was it even required that a Rabbi officiate at a wedding ceremony.
During the seven days of Huppah, the marriage festivities would be in full force. After the seventh day, the bride would emerge unveiled and the groom's friend would show the blood stained bedding to prove that the bride was, in fact, a virgin and that the groom had taken her. It proved that they had consummated the marriage.
Parallels to the Church. . .
Once Christ abducts us (raptured/caught up), He will adorn us with the crown of life [1] and our garments will be the clothes of righteousness [2]. Christ will also wear a crown [3].
The steps of the betrothal have ended and we now stand in the huppah as the Bride of Christ and we will be His Bride forever and ever.
v15 Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He Who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them [4].
Another Jewish name for the “Wedding day of the Messiah,” is “The Feast of Trumpets.” Revelation 19:7-9 tells us of the Wedding of the Lamb.
v7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
v8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
v9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God [5].
It is my contention that the seven days that Christ and His Bride will stay hidden in the huppah, will actually be the seven remaining years of history before Jesus comes with His Saints [6], (which is His Bride). All will see who the true Bride of Christ is [7] because she will not be wearing her veil.
This presupposes that there will be a pre-tribulation rapture of the church [8]. Although this is what the Bible teaches, many think otherwise. The Bible also teaches a three and a half year tribulation [9] and not seven, but once we see the beginning construction of the temple, we will know that there are seven years left of human government. These are minor points but believers will be debating them until Christ comes. This is just a point of interest.
Do you remember the groom showing the guests the blood stained sheets of the marriage bed? Could the blood stained clothes of Christ at the Cross, be the bloodied clothes shown to the world [10]? As believers, we are the Christ’s body and because of His death on the Cross, we are all righteous, holy, true, and pure.
____________________________________________
[1] 1 Peter 5:4; James 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:8
[2] Revelation 19:8
[3] Revelation 14:14
[4] Revelation 7:15 NIV
[5] Revelation 19:7
[6] 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Jude 1:14
[7] Colossians 3:4
[8] Main Scripture is Revelation 3:10. To learn of 16 more proofs, http://www.thepropheticyears.com/reasons/rapture.htm
[9] Daniel 7:25, 12:7; Revelation 12:6, 13:5. Time = one year, times = two years, and half a time = half a year. Forty-two months = 3 1/2 years. 1260 days = 3 1/2 years.
[10] Matthew 27:35
.
Wedding Chamber (Nissu’in)
Once they were back at the father’s house, the couple would enter what they called the Huppah. This was the second ceremony and required by the Talmud (Jewish oral law). The Huppah was originally a four-posted structure with an enclosed cloth covering. It very well could have been any structure or room that had been designated as the Huppah and belonging to the groom.
Here the wedding ceremony would take place and then the taking (consummation) of the bride (Nissu’in). Nissu’in literally means, "Taking." The covering was sometimes a talit, which is a Jewish prayer shawl. At the ceremony, the groom and the bride wore crowns and they dressed extravagantly.
After the ceremony, the bride and groom entered the huppah for seven days and there they would consummate the marriage. Only until recently was it even required that a Rabbi officiate at a wedding ceremony.
During the seven days of Huppah, the marriage festivities would be in full force. After the seventh day, the bride would emerge unveiled and the groom's friend would show the blood stained bedding to prove that the bride was, in fact, a virgin and that the groom had taken her. It proved that they had consummated the marriage.
Parallels to the Church. . .
Once Christ abducts us (raptured/caught up), He will adorn us with the crown of life [1] and our garments will be the clothes of righteousness [2]. Christ will also wear a crown [3].
The steps of the betrothal have ended and we now stand in the huppah as the Bride of Christ and we will be His Bride forever and ever.
v15 Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He Who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them [4].
Another Jewish name for the “Wedding day of the Messiah,” is “The Feast of Trumpets.” Revelation 19:7-9 tells us of the Wedding of the Lamb.
v7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
v8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
v9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God [5].
It is my contention that the seven days that Christ and His Bride will stay hidden in the huppah, will actually be the seven remaining years of history before Jesus comes with His Saints [6], (which is His Bride). All will see who the true Bride of Christ is [7] because she will not be wearing her veil.
This presupposes that there will be a pre-tribulation rapture of the church [8]. Although this is what the Bible teaches, many think otherwise. The Bible also teaches a three and a half year tribulation [9] and not seven, but once we see the beginning construction of the temple, we will know that there are seven years left of human government. These are minor points but believers will be debating them until Christ comes. This is just a point of interest.
Do you remember the groom showing the guests the blood stained sheets of the marriage bed? Could the blood stained clothes of Christ at the Cross, be the bloodied clothes shown to the world [10]? As believers, we are the Christ’s body and because of His death on the Cross, we are all righteous, holy, true, and pure.
____________________________________________
[1] 1 Peter 5:4; James 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:8
[2] Revelation 19:8
[3] Revelation 14:14
[4] Revelation 7:15 NIV
[5] Revelation 19:7
[6] 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Jude 1:14
[7] Colossians 3:4
[8] Main Scripture is Revelation 3:10. To learn of 16 more proofs, http://www.thepropheticyears.com/reasons/rapture.htm
[9] Daniel 7:25, 12:7; Revelation 12:6, 13:5. Time = one year, times = two years, and half a time = half a year. Forty-two months = 3 1/2 years. 1260 days = 3 1/2 years.
[10] Matthew 27:35
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Friday, January 13, 2012
JEWISH MARRIAGE CUSTOMS: Part Thirteen
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Abduction of the Bride
The bridegroom's father was the only one who knew when the bridegroom would return for his bride. If the father left it up to the bridegroom he would hurry in his construction efforts in order to go get his bride.
Usually the groom would arrive in the middle of the night to abduct his bride. The bride considered this to be very romantic. Because of this romanticism, the bride would always be ready to go. She would always have her veil, her lamp, and plenty of oil placed by her bed in case her groom came to steal her away that night.
Parallels to the Church. . .
Neither will we nor Christ know the day or the hour of his return. Only the Father in heaven [1] knows when He will send Jesus to abduct His Bride. There should be great anticipation for His return, which is part of the Bride’s preparation. We have been in that stage of preparation for 2000 years and will remain in that stage until the return of Jesus Christ for us. His return should be our biggest and main focus.
The abduction of the Bride pertains to the rapture of the church and we will forever be with the Lord as His Bride. The word rapture is not in the Bible but the phrase, “. . .shall be caught up. . .” means the same thing.
v16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
v17 then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord [2].
v34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
v35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
v36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left [3].
_______________________________
1 Mark 13:32
2 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 RSV
3 Luke 17:34-36
.
Abduction of the Bride
The bridegroom's father was the only one who knew when the bridegroom would return for his bride. If the father left it up to the bridegroom he would hurry in his construction efforts in order to go get his bride.
Usually the groom would arrive in the middle of the night to abduct his bride. The bride considered this to be very romantic. Because of this romanticism, the bride would always be ready to go. She would always have her veil, her lamp, and plenty of oil placed by her bed in case her groom came to steal her away that night.
Parallels to the Church. . .
Neither will we nor Christ know the day or the hour of his return. Only the Father in heaven [1] knows when He will send Jesus to abduct His Bride. There should be great anticipation for His return, which is part of the Bride’s preparation. We have been in that stage of preparation for 2000 years and will remain in that stage until the return of Jesus Christ for us. His return should be our biggest and main focus.
The abduction of the Bride pertains to the rapture of the church and we will forever be with the Lord as His Bride. The word rapture is not in the Bible but the phrase, “. . .shall be caught up. . .” means the same thing.
v16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
v17 then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord [2].
v34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
v35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
v36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left [3].
_______________________________
1 Mark 13:32
2 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 RSV
3 Luke 17:34-36
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Tuesday, January 10, 2012
BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD
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For the last couple weeks I have been feeling very tired and listless. I was talking to sis about my lethargy and how I should probably seek out a doctor for a checkup. She said that there seems to be a lot of that going around, how several of her friends felt the same way.
I told her that I really didn’t feel sleepy but I was tired all the time. I said, “I don’t know what I was so tired about because I really hadn’t done much to feel that way. While I’m sitting in my chair at my apartment, I can see things that need to be done, but I just don’t have the energy to get up and do them.”
I knew I wasn’t depressed because I’d been there and done that. Depression cost me my marriage, so I knew that I wasn’t depressed.
Sis and I finished our little talk and I went home to my apartment, plopped in my chair, and spent some time with the Lord. Many things came to my remembrance as I prayed.
While I sat in my chair all but about dozing off to la-la land, an image of my dad came to me just as I remember him, sitting in his wheel chair with his chin resting on his chest. This was pretty much what he did all day, every day for the last few days of his life. It bothered me because I knew his body was beginning to shut down.
Afterward, the Hospice nurse confirmed this to me. She said that during this withdrawal, he was going through a transitional period from the natural realm into the spiritual. He was reconciling everything in his mind.
Well, all truth is parallel. I believe that the Lord was trying to tell me that the body of Christ is going through a period of spiritual transition, not unto physical death, but unto a period of change and direction. The world is changing fast and the body is seeking reconciliation of things and at the same time looking for guidance. It was like the Lord was saying, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth [1].”
There is going to be a great awakening, a soon coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit and what the body is going through now is just a transitional period. God is about to hit His people with Himself and we have to be ready. We are in the early stages of that awakening now.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee [2].
This is a time NOT to be fearful, fretful, impatient, restless, and seemingly unaffected by the judgments of God. We should be concerned about what is going on in the world but only in the context of using this time as a time of harvesting the fields as they are white unto harvest [3].
Psalms 46:10 says to be quiet and easy, and resign ourselves to the will of God. Do not worry because the troubles of today have not caught God off guard. He is still in control. Psalms 37:12-13 says, “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.”
The body needs to remain still and seek His face and humble themselves and pray [4].We should live in an assured expectation of the appearance of Jesus Christ and that His will shall be done. The Lord is saying, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
_______________________________
[1] Psalm 46:10
[2] Isaiah 60:2
[3] John 4:35
[4] 2 Chronicles 7:14
.
For the last couple weeks I have been feeling very tired and listless. I was talking to sis about my lethargy and how I should probably seek out a doctor for a checkup. She said that there seems to be a lot of that going around, how several of her friends felt the same way.
I told her that I really didn’t feel sleepy but I was tired all the time. I said, “I don’t know what I was so tired about because I really hadn’t done much to feel that way. While I’m sitting in my chair at my apartment, I can see things that need to be done, but I just don’t have the energy to get up and do them.”
I knew I wasn’t depressed because I’d been there and done that. Depression cost me my marriage, so I knew that I wasn’t depressed.
Sis and I finished our little talk and I went home to my apartment, plopped in my chair, and spent some time with the Lord. Many things came to my remembrance as I prayed.
While I sat in my chair all but about dozing off to la-la land, an image of my dad came to me just as I remember him, sitting in his wheel chair with his chin resting on his chest. This was pretty much what he did all day, every day for the last few days of his life. It bothered me because I knew his body was beginning to shut down.
Afterward, the Hospice nurse confirmed this to me. She said that during this withdrawal, he was going through a transitional period from the natural realm into the spiritual. He was reconciling everything in his mind.
Well, all truth is parallel. I believe that the Lord was trying to tell me that the body of Christ is going through a period of spiritual transition, not unto physical death, but unto a period of change and direction. The world is changing fast and the body is seeking reconciliation of things and at the same time looking for guidance. It was like the Lord was saying, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth [1].”
There is going to be a great awakening, a soon coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit and what the body is going through now is just a transitional period. God is about to hit His people with Himself and we have to be ready. We are in the early stages of that awakening now.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee [2].
This is a time NOT to be fearful, fretful, impatient, restless, and seemingly unaffected by the judgments of God. We should be concerned about what is going on in the world but only in the context of using this time as a time of harvesting the fields as they are white unto harvest [3].
Psalms 46:10 says to be quiet and easy, and resign ourselves to the will of God. Do not worry because the troubles of today have not caught God off guard. He is still in control. Psalms 37:12-13 says, “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.”
The body needs to remain still and seek His face and humble themselves and pray [4].We should live in an assured expectation of the appearance of Jesus Christ and that His will shall be done. The Lord is saying, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
_______________________________
[1] Psalm 46:10
[2] Isaiah 60:2
[3] John 4:35
[4] 2 Chronicles 7:14
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Monday, January 2, 2012
JEWISH MARRIAGE CUSTOMS: Part Twelve
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Shofar
When the father felt that the house was satisfactory, he would tell his son, to go get his bride. The groom would then take his rams horn and head down the road after his bride. Although it was a romantic gesture to abduct the bride at night, it was not romantic to break into her house to do so. Therefore the bridegroom would use the shofar [1] to warn his bride when he got within shouting distance from her house, which he did.
Parallels to the Church. . .
No one knew the day or the hour of the groom's return but the father. Now where have I heard that before?
v42 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
v43 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
v44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him [2].
When Jesus comes for His bride, He will blow the shofar [3] and we will be taken up in a twinkling of an eye [4].
v6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him [5].
These are the times that we should be listening for that trumpet sound from heaven. We want to be sure, however, that we are ready for His return. It would be a very dangerous thing for Christ to find us not prepared and without any oil for our lamps [6]. Oil always symbolizes the Holy Spirit.
We are living in the last chapter of Acts and we should be preparing ourselves, anticipating the sound of the shofar and the shout from above. This will signal the return of Jesus Christ, our betrothed when we (the entire body), will be whisked away to the huppah, there to be completed in marriage to Jesus Christ who is our Lord, master, savior, redeemer, and husband.
___________________________
[1] Hollowed out rams horn
[2] Matthew 24:36, 42-44
[3] The shofar was a ram’s horn and used for trumpeting.
[4] 1 Corinthians 15:22
[5] Matthew 25:6
[6] They had to replenish the oil in the lamps every fifteen minutes, so they had to be sure that there was plenty of oil for the trip to the groom’s house. Matthew 25:1-13
.
Shofar
When the father felt that the house was satisfactory, he would tell his son, to go get his bride. The groom would then take his rams horn and head down the road after his bride. Although it was a romantic gesture to abduct the bride at night, it was not romantic to break into her house to do so. Therefore the bridegroom would use the shofar [1] to warn his bride when he got within shouting distance from her house, which he did.
Parallels to the Church. . .
No one knew the day or the hour of the groom's return but the father. Now where have I heard that before?
v42 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
v43 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
v44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him [2].
When Jesus comes for His bride, He will blow the shofar [3] and we will be taken up in a twinkling of an eye [4].
v6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him [5].
These are the times that we should be listening for that trumpet sound from heaven. We want to be sure, however, that we are ready for His return. It would be a very dangerous thing for Christ to find us not prepared and without any oil for our lamps [6]. Oil always symbolizes the Holy Spirit.
We are living in the last chapter of Acts and we should be preparing ourselves, anticipating the sound of the shofar and the shout from above. This will signal the return of Jesus Christ, our betrothed when we (the entire body), will be whisked away to the huppah, there to be completed in marriage to Jesus Christ who is our Lord, master, savior, redeemer, and husband.
___________________________
[1] Hollowed out rams horn
[2] Matthew 24:36, 42-44
[3] The shofar was a ram’s horn and used for trumpeting.
[4] 1 Corinthians 15:22
[5] Matthew 25:6
[6] They had to replenish the oil in the lamps every fifteen minutes, so they had to be sure that there was plenty of oil for the trip to the groom’s house. Matthew 25:1-13
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