(1Ti 6:10) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (NIV)
Money by itself is not evil or even the root of evil. In fact the Bible says much about working diligently and providing for the needs of your family and those who can't manage without help.
I do what I can to earn money to pay our bills, give to our church, and take my wife out on a date from time to time.
Today I opened an online store called John and Deb's Store. I'm hoping that if you can afford to do so you will shop at our store. Maybe you could also tell others about it so they might shop there as well.
Please don't spend money you can't afford to spend. In fact, if you are in need to extra money to meet your needs I would suggest you open an online store as well.
If you sign up as an Amazon Associate you can open an online store for free. That's right. No cost to you to start an online business.
If you open a store and share news about it with your friends and relatives maybe you'll earn a little extra money to help you with your bills.
To visit John and Deb's Store just click here or on the name of our store.
Money is not evil or the root of evil. When properly used money can assist us in providing for our families and helping others in need.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Jesus Really Came and He's Really Coming Back
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will 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. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
(New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California. All rights reserved. (New American Standard)
(New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California. All rights reserved. (New American Standard)
Jesus really came. He spent a few years teaching and setting an example to a dozen very unimpressive men who abandoned Him when the soldiers came to arrest him.
Nobody tried to stop his execution. Only one of his disciples was at His execution.
Jesus died, just as He said He would.
But He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead with a resurrection body that can never die again. And He showed himself to the eleven remaining disciples as well as to hundreds of others.
Forty days later He ascended into heaven. From there He sent the Holy Spirit to fill those who believed in Him. That enabled them to go out and tell others about the One who died for their sins, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven.
Those believers also told people that Jesus is coming back.
He really is. When He does some people will be glad to see Him. That's why we, like the Thessalonians, are comforted by those words.
Some people, however, will despair when Jesus returns.They can't and shouldn't feel comforted regarding the return of Jesus.
You can choose now to have Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If you do, you'll rejoice when He returns.
Or you can reject and neglect Jesus now. If that is true of you now and you don't change that before He returns, you will eternally regret that Jesus really meant it when He said He would come back..
Jesus has always done what He said He was going to do. And He always will.
Jesus really came. He's really coming back. Nobody knows the exact moment. You better be ready.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Can I See Clearly?
There are people who don't know they need glasses. They don't know that other people can see things that they cannot see. They don't know what they are missing.
Then there are those who know they need glasses but don't want to be bothered with them. They would rather miss out on seeing some things than go to the expense or trouble of getting and wearing glasses or contact lenses.
If we can't see something well enough to know what it is, we are blind to it. This is true whether we're talking about a road sign or print that is smaller than what we're able to read with our unaided eyes.
This is true in spiritual as well as physical matters.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. (2 Peter 1:4-9 NASB)
Some people think that just saying they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior is all that really matters when it comes to being a Christian.
But is God content with just our saying "Thanks God for saving me" and then living our lives however we feel like it?
What does God expect of us? And what else does God have for us other than forgiveness of our sins?
I believe what Peter wrote in 2 Peter chapter 1 should help us know what to do with the faith God gives to true believers. We should now be capable of the diligence to add moral excellence to our faith. It should bother us when we do wrong, and we should seek to do what is right.
In order to do w what is right. we need the knowledge of what is right, so we will want to know what is in God's Word. We'll want to apply the knowledge God Word in order to grow in self control. As we practice controlling ourselves, our perseverance should strengthen. That will enable us to exhibit more godliness, being more like God.
Progressing in such things will enable us to more considerate of others, demonstrating brotherly kindness and love of the kind that God wants us to have.
I need glass lenses that have been ground according to an eye doctor's prescription for me to see properly with my natural eyes. I need God's prescription found in 2 Peter chapter 1 for me to be sure I'm seeing myself and everything else with His perspective..
Seeing physical things improperly can be hazardous. Seeing spiritual things, including my own spiritual condition, improperly can even more dissasterous..
If we don't know what is in God's Word, we will live lives of short sightedness and even blindness, missing out on so much of what God intends for us.
We'll probably even forget we've been purified from sins, and will fall back into them. Instead of moving forward into godliness we'll slide backward into unrighteousness.
Let us always seek to see things as clearly as God wants us to see them, so we can live as God wants us to live.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Do We Rejoice in God's Statutes As We Do In Great Riches?
as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
Psalm 119:14-16 (NIV)
Let us consider for a moment that we don't just sort of believe that the Bible is the Word of God, but that we seriously believe it is His Word.
If I seriously believe that there is gold buried in my back yard that is mine to keep if I dig it up, will I simply be content knowing it is there? No, in that situation I think I'd be out back digging up the yard and examining the gold I unearthed.
If I believe the Bible contains the words and precepts and insights of almighty God that He put there to benefit me in ways I can scarcely imagine, then I think I ought to take more time to dig into the Book.
When I come across a precept in the Bible that convicts or blesses me, I certainly ought to think about it for awhile. Maybe even pray about what I've read. Maybe even use some Bible study tools get a deeper or more clear understanding on how to apply it in my life.
When we delight in something we take the time to learn more about it, and do more with it. If something doesn't mean much to us we neglect it.
How much does the Word of God mean to us? Do we find the time, even if inconvenient, to read and study it? Or do we value it so little that we ignore it most of the time?
If we took the time and discovered a golden nugget of understanding in God's word, maybe our interest in it would be renewed. Maybe we'd want to find another nugget, and then more and more.
Let's give it a try. Let's search for the treasures God's Word that he wants us to find and use.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
A Few Little Things I'm Thankful For Today
Today, like most days, I had lunch with my wife. Because we're in the middle of a heat wave with high humidity and temperatures in the 90's we did not have our lunch in Boston. We had it at home in our apartment.
It was a tasty lunch. We both had some tasty red grapes, chilled from being in the refrigerator. We also shared a peach I'd sliced up.
Her salad also included small chunks of sharp cheese, pieces of dried apricots, a sprinkle of sunflower kernels, and was topped off with a drizzle of ranch salad dressing.
The main part of my lunch was a little less exotic, but still quite healthy. I had my favorite lunch meal, natural peanut butter and grape jelly on hearty rye bread. (I also like strawberry jam but not at the same time as grape.)
Nothing fancy. But healthy and tasty, for which I'm thankful. I'm also thankful for the people on farms, in trucks, and stores who made it possible for us to have such a nice variety of good food to enjoy.
Thank You, Lord, for making food and making it available to us.
It was a tasty lunch. We both had some tasty red grapes, chilled from being in the refrigerator. We also shared a peach I'd sliced up.
Her salad also included small chunks of sharp cheese, pieces of dried apricots, a sprinkle of sunflower kernels, and was topped off with a drizzle of ranch salad dressing.
The main part of my lunch was a little less exotic, but still quite healthy. I had my favorite lunch meal, natural peanut butter and grape jelly on hearty rye bread. (I also like strawberry jam but not at the same time as grape.)
Nothing fancy. But healthy and tasty, for which I'm thankful. I'm also thankful for the people on farms, in trucks, and stores who made it possible for us to have such a nice variety of good food to enjoy.
Thank You, Lord, for making food and making it available to us.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Borrower Is Servant To The Lender
The title of today's blog post is taken from Proverbs 22:7
As I understand the principle behind this proverb, if we are in debt to somebody, we're not as free as we would be otherwise.
If I borrow your hammer, and you want it back before I'm finished using it, you have the right to take it back. If I still have nails to put into boards I either need to wait until you will loan me your hammer again, or maybe use something else for hammering those nails. Maybe a rock.
If we owe money on a TV, car, or house, and we don't pay what we owe on time then those who lent us the money for them can repossess what we had use of for a time.
Sometimes circumstances beyond our control bring us into debt for things we really need for health, shelter, or mobility. But if there are times when we do get into debt, we should not be content to remain there.
Right now our nation owes trillions of dollars to other countries. I hope our leaders will eventually see that those who loan us all that money may one day make demands of us that we won't appreciate.
I pray that as individuals, families, businesses, communities, states, and a nation we will learn to be better stewards of our money and all of our other resources.
As I understand the principle behind this proverb, if we are in debt to somebody, we're not as free as we would be otherwise.
If I borrow your hammer, and you want it back before I'm finished using it, you have the right to take it back. If I still have nails to put into boards I either need to wait until you will loan me your hammer again, or maybe use something else for hammering those nails. Maybe a rock.
If we owe money on a TV, car, or house, and we don't pay what we owe on time then those who lent us the money for them can repossess what we had use of for a time.
Sometimes circumstances beyond our control bring us into debt for things we really need for health, shelter, or mobility. But if there are times when we do get into debt, we should not be content to remain there.
Right now our nation owes trillions of dollars to other countries. I hope our leaders will eventually see that those who loan us all that money may one day make demands of us that we won't appreciate.
I pray that as individuals, families, businesses, communities, states, and a nation we will learn to be better stewards of our money and all of our other resources.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Holier Than Thou. Attitude or Commitment?
I think that we've all heard that a "holier than thou" attitude is not a good attitude to have. It might even tend to lose friends and win enemies.
But what exactly is a "holier than thou" attitude? Is is "I'm a more godly person than you so I'm better than you." That certainly wouldn't be a mark of humility, so according to my understanding of the Bible it wouldn't mean you were being holy, which is be like God.
Some "holier than thou" attitudes seem to involve keeping man made rules, like not watching any movies or TV shows unless they are specifically made by Christians. Or not eating certain foods banned in the Old Testament even if we're told in the New Testament that we're allowed to eat them now.
But if we are going to reject having a holier than thou attitude, does that that free us from seeking to be live a holy life?
Well, multiple times in Leviticus we are told to be holy. But what about in the New Testament.
"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
(1 Pter 1:13-16) NKJV. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers., 1982,
OK, here we have the command to be holy for God is holy. We're told to be sober. But we're not to depend on our own strength to become holy.
Our hope is to rest fully upon the grace that is brought to us when Jesus Christ is fully revealed to us. That started when we came to believe in Him, and will be completed when we see Him again.
From the time He became our Lord and Savior we are to be obedient children. When we were ignorant and didn't know Jesus, we lived out our lusts on a daily basis. No more. Now we are to be holy in all our conduct.
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
(Romans 12:1-2 NKJV Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers., (C)1982)
I agree we should do away with a "holier than thou" attitude. But we should seek by the grace of God that our conduct be as holy as God's holiness. We will, of course, need we'll need His help for that. It is help He is more than willing to give.
But what exactly is a "holier than thou" attitude? Is is "I'm a more godly person than you so I'm better than you." That certainly wouldn't be a mark of humility, so according to my understanding of the Bible it wouldn't mean you were being holy, which is be like God.
Some "holier than thou" attitudes seem to involve keeping man made rules, like not watching any movies or TV shows unless they are specifically made by Christians. Or not eating certain foods banned in the Old Testament even if we're told in the New Testament that we're allowed to eat them now.
But if we are going to reject having a holier than thou attitude, does that that free us from seeking to be live a holy life?
Well, multiple times in Leviticus we are told to be holy. But what about in the New Testament.
"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
(1 Pter 1:13-16) NKJV. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers., 1982,
OK, here we have the command to be holy for God is holy. We're told to be sober. But we're not to depend on our own strength to become holy.
Our hope is to rest fully upon the grace that is brought to us when Jesus Christ is fully revealed to us. That started when we came to believe in Him, and will be completed when we see Him again.
From the time He became our Lord and Savior we are to be obedient children. When we were ignorant and didn't know Jesus, we lived out our lusts on a daily basis. No more. Now we are to be holy in all our conduct.
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
(Romans 12:1-2 NKJV Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers., (C)1982)
I agree we should do away with a "holier than thou" attitude. But we should seek by the grace of God that our conduct be as holy as God's holiness. We will, of course, need we'll need His help for that. It is help He is more than willing to give.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Faith That Pleases God
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" Hebrews 11:6
(c) The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers., 1982, S.
If you care at all about pleasing God, this verse is a good one to consider. From it we learn that if we don't have faith we can't please God. But what kind of faith is being written about in this passage?
This faith definitely has to do with coming to God. No one is going to come to a God if he doesn't believe a God exists. So the very start of the faith that can please God is one that believes there really is a God.
Believing God exists is a necessary beginning, but if that is where people stop they will one day day discover they fell far short of what pleases God. Satan believes there is a God but wants to replace Him as Lord of all creation. We can believe God is real but then only seek to have our own selves as lord of what we think, say, and do.
After we come to believe that God is real, we must then continue on to believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
What do you suppose is the reward that people get for earnestly seeking God? Well, if I was one to seek after gold, the reward I would hope to get would be gold. If I'm going to fervently seek God then the reward I hope to get will be God Himself.
When I was pursuing a certain lady who used to live in California, getting to know her better, and learning what pleased her, my reward came when she became my wife. I still have that glorious reward of being married to her, and it keeps getting better.
How do we diligently seek God? Well, there's a book that helps us to know Him better. The Bible. There are also Bible study materials, and Bible teachers who can help us know God better.
If we can't be bothered with reading and studying the Bible, and if we fail to take advantage of what godly Bible teachers have to offer, then we are not diligently seeking God. So whatever faith we think we have may not be the faith that pleases God.
I want to please God. Therefore I want to seek Him not in a half-hearted way, but with all my heart. I pray you will do the same. When you think of it, please pray that I will follow through with my diligently seeking God every day.
(c) The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers., 1982, S.
If you care at all about pleasing God, this verse is a good one to consider. From it we learn that if we don't have faith we can't please God. But what kind of faith is being written about in this passage?
This faith definitely has to do with coming to God. No one is going to come to a God if he doesn't believe a God exists. So the very start of the faith that can please God is one that believes there really is a God.
Believing God exists is a necessary beginning, but if that is where people stop they will one day day discover they fell far short of what pleases God. Satan believes there is a God but wants to replace Him as Lord of all creation. We can believe God is real but then only seek to have our own selves as lord of what we think, say, and do.
After we come to believe that God is real, we must then continue on to believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
What do you suppose is the reward that people get for earnestly seeking God? Well, if I was one to seek after gold, the reward I would hope to get would be gold. If I'm going to fervently seek God then the reward I hope to get will be God Himself.
When I was pursuing a certain lady who used to live in California, getting to know her better, and learning what pleased her, my reward came when she became my wife. I still have that glorious reward of being married to her, and it keeps getting better.
How do we diligently seek God? Well, there's a book that helps us to know Him better. The Bible. There are also Bible study materials, and Bible teachers who can help us know God better.
If we can't be bothered with reading and studying the Bible, and if we fail to take advantage of what godly Bible teachers have to offer, then we are not diligently seeking God. So whatever faith we think we have may not be the faith that pleases God.
I want to please God. Therefore I want to seek Him not in a half-hearted way, but with all my heart. I pray you will do the same. When you think of it, please pray that I will follow through with my diligently seeking God every day.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Why Don't We Post About What We Believe?
Or is what we post on social networking sites what we truly believe in. When we're in church and Bible studies do we say we believe the Bible is the Word of God, but when we're out in public, like on places like FaceBook (TM)do we neglect to bring such things up for discussion.
In the adult Sunday school class I was at today the teacher wondered why so few comments were ever added when he or others posted about the Bible.
One friend from church sometimes just posts a Scripture quote on Facebook, and often nobody says anything about it.
I'm thinking that I'll make a point to write something if I read a post that either quotes the Bible or says something about God.
Maybe a few folks could do the same. After, we do believe the Bible is the Word of God, don't we. And that if we're believers we are His children, aren't we?
In the adult Sunday school class I was at today the teacher wondered why so few comments were ever added when he or others posted about the Bible.
One friend from church sometimes just posts a Scripture quote on Facebook, and often nobody says anything about it.
I'm thinking that I'll make a point to write something if I read a post that either quotes the Bible or says something about God.
Maybe a few folks could do the same. After, we do believe the Bible is the Word of God, don't we. And that if we're believers we are His children, aren't we?
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Awesome Day At Church
Today was our annual Missions Sunday at church. Our Missions' Committee has been preparing for it for months and it went very well indeed.
One of the missionaries who spoke to the combined adult Sunday School class works with Joni and Friends New England. One of the most touching things she shared was how at one church she met to pray with church members with cognitive disabilities who actually help lead the group. I was reminded how when we compare ourselves with God we all have cognitive disabilities.
The other missionary who shared in that class is a woman who has been serving in Japan where over 99% are non-Christian. She's now going to be working with Japanese who became Christians while out of their home country and are now returning to live and work. They are brothers and sisters in Christ and they need support to grow in their faith.
During the worship service three of the young people who went on the short term mission trip to Camden, N.J., gave testimonies. Then the director of Urban Promise Urban Trekkers spoke. He leads inner city kids on camping and boating trips. He also leads trips of teens from churches around the country to the inner city of Camden where they help both with vitally needed volunteer work projects and with coming alongside kids who live there in the midsts of serious hardships.
God wants us to share the good that He loves us so much that gives us life, that He sent is Son die for our sins, and that He wants us to love one another in tangible, real life ways. Today's Mission Sunday at Brookville Baptist Church in Holbrook, MA, expressed that quite clearly.
One of the missionaries who spoke to the combined adult Sunday School class works with Joni and Friends New England. One of the most touching things she shared was how at one church she met to pray with church members with cognitive disabilities who actually help lead the group. I was reminded how when we compare ourselves with God we all have cognitive disabilities.
The other missionary who shared in that class is a woman who has been serving in Japan where over 99% are non-Christian. She's now going to be working with Japanese who became Christians while out of their home country and are now returning to live and work. They are brothers and sisters in Christ and they need support to grow in their faith.
During the worship service three of the young people who went on the short term mission trip to Camden, N.J., gave testimonies. Then the director of Urban Promise Urban Trekkers spoke. He leads inner city kids on camping and boating trips. He also leads trips of teens from churches around the country to the inner city of Camden where they help both with vitally needed volunteer work projects and with coming alongside kids who live there in the midsts of serious hardships.
God wants us to share the good that He loves us so much that gives us life, that He sent is Son die for our sins, and that He wants us to love one another in tangible, real life ways. Today's Mission Sunday at Brookville Baptist Church in Holbrook, MA, expressed that quite clearly.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Husbands, Love Your Wives...
Today I'm thinking about Paul's exhortation in Ephesians for husbands to love their wives. I've been a husband for seven years, and I'm still learning how to love my wife.
Loving somebody isn't simply about having a certain pleasant feeling concerning that person. Loving somebody primarily is what we do.
What is the standard by which we husbands are to love our wives?
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her" (NKJV (C)Thomas Nelson Publishers 1982) Eph 5:25
So that is what I am pondering about today. How did Jesus love the church?
Well, He gave Himself for us, dying on the cross to pay for our sins. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves, redeeming us, paying the price we could not pay.
It is clear that Jesus can do things for us that we cannot do for ourselves. Paying for our sins is one of those things. Blessing us in ways we couldn't even imagine. Preparing a place for us in eternity.
Jesus is clearly stronger than and greater than all of us put together. And He does so much for us that only He can do.
We husbands are to love our wives as Christ loves the church. Part of that involves honoring them as a weaker vessel in regards to those areas in which the husband may be stronger than his wife. Doing for her some things that his strength is better suited for handling.
My wife and I are both disabled, but I have more use of my hands, so I'm able to show love to her by helping her with the things my hands are, well, more handy for doing. This goes along with what Peter wrote:
"Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." (1 Peter 3:7)
(NKJV (c) Thomas Nelson Publishers., 1982
I like how Peter writes about living with our wives with understanding. Yes I am to honor my wife as a weaker vessel, helping her with those things I'm better suited for. But I'm not to do everything for her.
Jesus doesn't do everything for us. He is all powerful so He could do everything, but He doesn't because doing so wouldn't be right.
In Luke 7:36-50 we read about the time when Jesus accepted the invitation to eat at the home of a Pharisee. While He was there a woman who was a sinner came and washed his feet with her tears.
The Pharisee hadn't washed the dust off Jesus' feet. He hadn't even directed somebody else to do it.
Jesus was the one who could walk on water, calm a storm, multiply loaves and fishes, and heal the sick. Jesus could have made the dust on his feet vanish in an instant. But He didn't.
Jesus let the woman wash His feet. He let the woman do what she could do for Him. She could wash his feet. She could kiss his feet.
Peter wrote that we husbands are to deal with our wives with understanding? The Pharisee would have liked to have thrown the woman out of his house because she was a sinner. Jesus, knowing full well that she was a sinner, let her wash His feet. And Jesus did what she needed done. He forgave her.
We husbands need to love our wives as Christ loves the church. Sometimes that means forgiving our wives when they need forgiveness. It may mean doing more than our fair share of working, or praying, or giving, or keeping quiet and listening attentively. Other times loving our wives is letting them do what they are able to do.
We husbands need to remember that we are in need of help in a great many areas of our lives. We need to try to be just as gracious in accepting the help from our wives as Jesus was in accepting the washing of His feet that the woman gave Him.
My wife blesses me so greatly I won't ever be able to thank God enough for her. She is helping me be a better husband, and a more godly man.
I hope I can get better at loving my wife the way Christ loves the church. Let us pray that all of us husbands can become better at loving our wives.
Loving somebody isn't simply about having a certain pleasant feeling concerning that person. Loving somebody primarily is what we do.
What is the standard by which we husbands are to love our wives?
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her" (NKJV (C)Thomas Nelson Publishers 1982) Eph 5:25
So that is what I am pondering about today. How did Jesus love the church?
Well, He gave Himself for us, dying on the cross to pay for our sins. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves, redeeming us, paying the price we could not pay.
It is clear that Jesus can do things for us that we cannot do for ourselves. Paying for our sins is one of those things. Blessing us in ways we couldn't even imagine. Preparing a place for us in eternity.
Jesus is clearly stronger than and greater than all of us put together. And He does so much for us that only He can do.
We husbands are to love our wives as Christ loves the church. Part of that involves honoring them as a weaker vessel in regards to those areas in which the husband may be stronger than his wife. Doing for her some things that his strength is better suited for handling.
My wife and I are both disabled, but I have more use of my hands, so I'm able to show love to her by helping her with the things my hands are, well, more handy for doing. This goes along with what Peter wrote:
"Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." (1 Peter 3:7)
(NKJV (c) Thomas Nelson Publishers., 1982
I like how Peter writes about living with our wives with understanding. Yes I am to honor my wife as a weaker vessel, helping her with those things I'm better suited for. But I'm not to do everything for her.
Jesus doesn't do everything for us. He is all powerful so He could do everything, but He doesn't because doing so wouldn't be right.
In Luke 7:36-50 we read about the time when Jesus accepted the invitation to eat at the home of a Pharisee. While He was there a woman who was a sinner came and washed his feet with her tears.
The Pharisee hadn't washed the dust off Jesus' feet. He hadn't even directed somebody else to do it.
Jesus was the one who could walk on water, calm a storm, multiply loaves and fishes, and heal the sick. Jesus could have made the dust on his feet vanish in an instant. But He didn't.
Jesus let the woman wash His feet. He let the woman do what she could do for Him. She could wash his feet. She could kiss his feet.
Peter wrote that we husbands are to deal with our wives with understanding? The Pharisee would have liked to have thrown the woman out of his house because she was a sinner. Jesus, knowing full well that she was a sinner, let her wash His feet. And Jesus did what she needed done. He forgave her.
We husbands need to love our wives as Christ loves the church. Sometimes that means forgiving our wives when they need forgiveness. It may mean doing more than our fair share of working, or praying, or giving, or keeping quiet and listening attentively. Other times loving our wives is letting them do what they are able to do.
We husbands need to remember that we are in need of help in a great many areas of our lives. We need to try to be just as gracious in accepting the help from our wives as Jesus was in accepting the washing of His feet that the woman gave Him.
My wife blesses me so greatly I won't ever be able to thank God enough for her. She is helping me be a better husband, and a more godly man.
I hope I can get better at loving my wife the way Christ loves the church. Let us pray that all of us husbands can become better at loving our wives.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Are We Courageously Persistent In Prayer?
Col 4:2-4 "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak."
NKJV Copyright 1982 Thomas Nelson Publishers
Do we spend enough time each day praying? When we do pray, do we do so as earnestly as God wants us to pray?
I see here that Paul didn't ask the Christians in Colosse to start praying. He told them to continue in prayer, and to do so earnestly. The Greek text conveys the meaning of “to be courageously persistent” or “to hold fast and not let go."
Paul wanted Christians to be courageously persistent that a door would be open to the Word, and that he and others would speak it to others.
I am sure that is the kind of praying that God wants all followers of Christ to be actively engaged in.
We should want the glorious mystery of Christ, that He would sacrifice His life to save sinners like us, to be spoken everywhere.
Let's pray earnestly for one another that we share the Word of God with others. That's what God want us to do. Let's settle for nothing less than what God wants.
NKJV Copyright 1982 Thomas Nelson Publishers
Do we spend enough time each day praying? When we do pray, do we do so as earnestly as God wants us to pray?
I see here that Paul didn't ask the Christians in Colosse to start praying. He told them to continue in prayer, and to do so earnestly. The Greek text conveys the meaning of “to be courageously persistent” or “to hold fast and not let go."
Paul wanted Christians to be courageously persistent that a door would be open to the Word, and that he and others would speak it to others.
I am sure that is the kind of praying that God wants all followers of Christ to be actively engaged in.
We should want the glorious mystery of Christ, that He would sacrifice His life to save sinners like us, to be spoken everywhere.
Let's pray earnestly for one another that we share the Word of God with others. That's what God want us to do. Let's settle for nothing less than what God wants.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Whatever We Do
Colossians 3:17
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
When we do something in the name of somebody else it certainly should be what that other person wants us to do.
I'm also inclined to think that how I say or do something will matter to the person in whose name I act.
Am I sloppy or haphazard in my endeavors and what I communicate?
Take for example this blog. This is only the second post, and only the first for this month. I could make excuses. Or I could ponder about it.
My thinking is that I should either do this blog with the kind of effort that doing it for the Lord Jesus should warrant. Or I shouldn't bother with it.
The same should go for other things, such the work that I do to earn some extra money. If I'm going to work I should do it as best I can, since even that should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And of course I should seek to be the best husband I can be to my wife. Therefore I'll stop writing and go have supper with her.
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
When we do something in the name of somebody else it certainly should be what that other person wants us to do.
I'm also inclined to think that how I say or do something will matter to the person in whose name I act.
Am I sloppy or haphazard in my endeavors and what I communicate?
Take for example this blog. This is only the second post, and only the first for this month. I could make excuses. Or I could ponder about it.
My thinking is that I should either do this blog with the kind of effort that doing it for the Lord Jesus should warrant. Or I shouldn't bother with it.
The same should go for other things, such the work that I do to earn some extra money. If I'm going to work I should do it as best I can, since even that should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And of course I should seek to be the best husband I can be to my wife. Therefore I'll stop writing and go have supper with her.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Health Care. Who Will Help If...?
This first post is being written on Monday, March 22, 2010, the day after Congress passed the bill intended to give health insurance to everybody in the United States.
When people are sick or disabled it is good to help them. When Jesus told the story of the Samaritan who helped the badly injured man by the side of the road, it is clear that He wants us to help those who are hurting.
Current government programs like Medicare and Medicaid already help many people who are sick or disabled. Both my wife and I need such help. We both depend on wheelchairs for mobility and medicines for our medical conditions. I also depend on two breathing machines, one that is needed at night, and another I need during the day.
Both my wife and I have been disabled since childhood so we haven't been able to earn much money that we could use to pay for our medicines and medical equipment. But as health care has been expanding to more people, our health care coverage has been reduced.
I've already had to pay hundreds of dollars for certain health care needs that are no longer covered.
As the expense of providing health care coverage for everybody escalates, there will be the need to find more ways to cut costs. Like instead of my being able to live a fairly active life by having my two breathing machines, why not do a tracheotomy on me so one machine could keep me alive even it it meant severe discomfort, restrictions on what I was able to do, and a shorter life?
Of course if I die sooner rather than later, I could look forward to being with Jesus. But when I'm gone what will my wife do? Personal care attendants would continue to help her for the parts of the day when they're here. But the other times she'd be alone.
There's not a lot I'm physically able to do for my wife, but what I am able to do for her I very gladly do. I do what I can for her because I love her. When I'm gone I won't be able to be of any more help to my sweetheart.
I hope fellow Christians will start stepping forward and doing for one another what we've come to depend on government to do for us. Jesus told us to be like the Samaritan who did all that he could to help the man in need.
When others, including those representing the government and its universal health care programs, step to the other side of the road and decide they can't help certain individuals for one "good" reason or another, will there be some who will
do what is needed to care for and save people's lives?
I hope so. My wife hopes so. But she's scared. And I certainly understand why.
When people are sick or disabled it is good to help them. When Jesus told the story of the Samaritan who helped the badly injured man by the side of the road, it is clear that He wants us to help those who are hurting.
Current government programs like Medicare and Medicaid already help many people who are sick or disabled. Both my wife and I need such help. We both depend on wheelchairs for mobility and medicines for our medical conditions. I also depend on two breathing machines, one that is needed at night, and another I need during the day.
Both my wife and I have been disabled since childhood so we haven't been able to earn much money that we could use to pay for our medicines and medical equipment. But as health care has been expanding to more people, our health care coverage has been reduced.
I've already had to pay hundreds of dollars for certain health care needs that are no longer covered.
As the expense of providing health care coverage for everybody escalates, there will be the need to find more ways to cut costs. Like instead of my being able to live a fairly active life by having my two breathing machines, why not do a tracheotomy on me so one machine could keep me alive even it it meant severe discomfort, restrictions on what I was able to do, and a shorter life?
Of course if I die sooner rather than later, I could look forward to being with Jesus. But when I'm gone what will my wife do? Personal care attendants would continue to help her for the parts of the day when they're here. But the other times she'd be alone.
There's not a lot I'm physically able to do for my wife, but what I am able to do for her I very gladly do. I do what I can for her because I love her. When I'm gone I won't be able to be of any more help to my sweetheart.
I hope fellow Christians will start stepping forward and doing for one another what we've come to depend on government to do for us. Jesus told us to be like the Samaritan who did all that he could to help the man in need.
When others, including those representing the government and its universal health care programs, step to the other side of the road and decide they can't help certain individuals for one "good" reason or another, will there be some who will
do what is needed to care for and save people's lives?
I hope so. My wife hopes so. But she's scared. And I certainly understand why.
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