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].
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[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
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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
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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
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