Hedonism for Husbands and Wives

 

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:24–25)

There is a pattern of love in marriage ordained by God.

The roles of husband and wife are not the same. The husband is to take his special cues from Christ as the head of the church. The wife is to take her special cues from God’s design for the church as submissive to Christ.

In doing this, the sinful and damaging results of the fall begin to be reversed. The fall twisted man’s loving headship into hostile domination in some men, and lazy indifference in others. The fall twisted woman’s intelligent, willing submission into manipulative obsequiousness in some women, and brazen insubordination in others.

The redemption we anticipated when the Messiah finally came in Jesus Christ was not the dismantling of the created order of loving headship and willing submission, but a recovery of it. Wives, redeem your fallen submission by modeling it after God’s intention for a joyful church! Husbands, redeem your fallen headship by modeling it after God’s intention for the lavishly loving Christ!

I find in Ephesians 5:21–33 these two things: (1) the display of Christian Hedonism in marriage and (2) the direction its impulses should take.

Wives, seek your joy in the joy of your husband by affirming and honoring his God-ordained role as “head” or leader in your relationship. Husbands, seek your joy in the joy of your wife by accepting the responsibility to lead as Christ led the church and gave himself for her.

I would like to bear witness to God’s goodness in my life. I discovered Christian Hedonism the same year I got married, in 1968. Since then, Noël and I, in obedience to Jesus Christ, have pursued as passionately as we can the deepest, most lasting joys possible. All too imperfectly, all too half-heartedly at times, we have stalked our own joy in the joy of each other.

And we can testify together after almost 50 years of marriage: For those who marry, this is the path to the heart’s desire. For us, marriage has been a matrix for Christian Hedonism. As each pursues joy in the joy of the other and fulfills a God-ordained role, the mystery of marriage as a parable of Christ and the church becomes manifest for his great glory and for our great joy.

GOD IS EVER CARING!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 22, 2022.

SUBJECT: GOD IS EVER CARING!

Memory verse: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (First Peter 5 vs 7.) 

READ:  Psalm 103 vs 8 - 14 & 17:

103:8: The Lord is merciful and gracious. slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 

103:9: He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. 

103:10: He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 

103:11: For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 

103:12: As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 

103:13: As s father pities his children, do the Lord pities those who fear Him. 

103:14: For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. 

103:17: But the mercy of The Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. And His righteousness to children's children. 

INTIMATION:

God has deep interest in all that concerns you and I. We are fragile but God's care is eternal. Too often we focus on God as Judge and Lawgiver, ignoring His compassion and concern for us. When God examines our lives He remembers our human condition. His mercy takes everything into account. God will deal with us compassionately. 

Our weakness should not be used as a justification for sin. God is so caring that when He forgives us our sin, He separates it from us and doesn't even remember it. East and west can never meet and this is a symbolic portrait of God's forgiveness of our sins. We need never wallow in the past, for God forgives and forgets.

In Matthew 6 vs 31 - 33, the Scripture states:

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' Or 'What shall drink?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

To "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" means to turn to God first for help, to fill your thoughts with His desires, to take His character for your pattern, and to serve and obey Him in everything. People, objects, goals, and other desires all compete for priority. Any of these can quickly bump God out of first place if you don't actively choose to give Him first place in every area of your life, remembering that He cares!

Carrying your worries, stresses, and daily struggles by yourself shows that you have not trusted God fully with your life. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares, and to admit your needs, and let God take care of you. Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God's concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, He will bear the weight of those struggles, including your sins.

Our Loving Father will never leave us; that is His promise to us. But the enemy of our souls wants us to doubt God, and to question His ability. Obviously, if you told a big enough lie long enough, people would believe it. And this undoubtedly, is the trick the father of lies, Satan, has used from the beginning of human history.

In the Garden of Eden our first parents were set up to live happily ever after, having been placed in a paradise-like setting by a Loving, Caring, and Personal God. They had been given everything they could ever want, but with only one small restriction: "Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." 

We easily will say today, 'What a simple innocuous request and easy to obey.'

But when they were enticed by the “tempter,” - the devil, they fell into his trap of questioning the love and goodness of the One from whom they had only experienced good. What a monstrous lie! But they bought the lie hook, line and sinker! And mankind has been wretched ever since, but for God's intervention through His Son, Jesus Christ!

We do the same today. We willingly swallow the lie that we cannot trust our Heavenly Father. We allow our earthly hurts from parents or others to distrust our view and our understanding of God. Our many feelings, emotions, fears, and human experience effectively block a clean perception, consequently stifling all truth about Him. 

Pray that God will help you not allow negative human relationship and experience interfere with having a close relationship with your Loving, and Caring Father, and hindering your enjoying the never ending and limitless benefits of His care.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are so caring and loving that You gave Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins. What a supreme sacrifice You made for me! Forever You remain my only God. Endue me with the spirit of love, compassion, trust, and complete obedience to You, who has given all for me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Mystery of Marriage

 

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31–32)

Here in Ephesians 5:31 Paul is quoting Genesis 2:24, which Moses spoke — and Jesus said God spoke through Moses (Matthew 19:5) — “A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Paul says this word of God, spoken before the fall into sin, is a reference to Christ and the church and contains therefore a great mystery.

What this implies is that when God engaged to create man and woman and to ordain the union of marriage, he didn’t roll the dice or draw straws or flip a coin as to how they might be related to each other. He patterned marriage very purposefully after the relationship between his Son and the church, which he had planned from all eternity.

Therefore, marriage is a mystery — it contains and conceals a meaning far greater than what we see on the outside. God created man male and female and ordained marriage so that the eternal covenant relationship between Christ and his church would be imaged forth in the marriage union.

The inference Paul draws from this mystery is that the roles of husband and wife in marriage are not arbitrarily assigned, but are rooted in the distinctive roles of Christ and his church.

Those of us who are married need to ponder again and again how mysterious and wonderful it is that God grants us in marriage the privilege to image forth stupendous divine realities infinitely bigger and greater than ourselves.

This mystery of Christ and the church is the foundation of the pattern of love that Paul describes for marriage. It is not enough to say that each spouse should pursue his or her own joy in the joy of the other. That is true. But it is not enough. It is also important to say that husbands and wives should consciously copy the relationship God intended for Christ and the church. That is, each should seek to live after the distinctive model of God’s pure and glad design for Christ and the church.

I hope you will take this seriously whether you are single or married, old or young. The revelation of the covenant-keeping Christ and his covenant-keeping church hangs on it.

YOUR PRAYER CAN CHANGE EVENTS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY OCTOBER 21, 2022.

SUBJECT : YOUR PRAYER CAN CHANGE EVENTS!

Memory verse: "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them." (Psalm 106 vs 23.)

READ: Exodus  32 vs 9 - 14:

32:9: And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!

32:10: Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."

32:11: Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?  

32:12: Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.

32:13: Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'"

32:14: So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

INTIMATION:

In response to fervent prayer God may change the course of our lives or His attitude toward us. Although we do things that deserve God's anger, we receive God's forgiveness from sin by asking Him in prayer for it. When we pray He is always willing to forgive us and restore us to Himself because His mercy endures forever. 

God is just, and there is no injustice with Him. He is also, a merciful God, and His mercy endures forever. These two natures of God came to the fore when the children of Israel angered Him. God was ready to punish them to remain consistent with His nature of justice. But when Moses interceded for the people, God relented in order to act consistently with His nature of being a merciful God. He changed His behavior to remain consistent with His nature.

This is one of the countless examples in the Bible of God's mercy. Although we deserve His anger, He is willing to forgive and restore us to Himself. We can receive God's forgiveness from sin by asking Him. Like Moses, we can intercede in prayer in any circumstances, and God may use us to bring the message of His mercy by forgiving others. In the passage we read today, God was ready to destroy the whole nation of Israel because of their sin, but Moses interceded and pleaded for mercy and God spared them. 

In Second Kings 20 vs 1 - 6, Hezekiah the king was sick and near death. God sent Isaiah the prophet to him telling him to set his house in order, for he shall surely die. Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly, reminding God how he has walked before Him in truth and with a loyal heart, and has done what is good in God's sight. God heard his prayer and saw his tears. Not only did God spare his life and added more fifteen years to him, He also healed him of his sickness and saved his city from the Assyrians. His faith and prayer changed the course of events. 

You too can make a difference, even if your faith puts you in the minority. Faith and prayer, if they are sincere and directed toward the one true God, can change any situation. Never hesitate to ask God for radical changes if you will honor Him with those changes. God has asked us to bring forth our strong reasons for whatever we ask Him in prayers. He is a just God, and ready to reason with us. He is also, ready to grant our prayers if our reasons are strong, convincing, good enough, and in consonance with His will:

"Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD....."Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob......"Put Me in remembrance; let us contend together; state your case, that you may be acquitted." (Isaiah 1 vs 18; 41 vs 21; 43 vs 26.)

Prayer: Abba Father, hear me O LORD, and attend to my cry. Let my prayer come to You as sweet smelling savor, and give me an answer of peace. There is nothing impossible nor difficult with You. You are the God that listens to the cry of Your children. Thank You Lord for You have heard me. To You be all the honor and glory for the great things You have done, is doing, and will do, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

FELLOWSHIP WITH THE GODHEAD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2022.

SUBJECT : FELLOWSHIP WITH THE GODHEAD!

Memory verse: "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8 vs 12.)

READ: First John 1 vs 3 - 7: 

1:3: That which we have seen and heard we declared to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 

1:4: And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

1:5: This is the message which we have heard from Him and declared to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

1:6: If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth.

1:7: But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

INTIMATION:

The highest honor God has ever conferred upon us is to be joint-fellowshippers with Himself, with His Son, and with the Holy Spirit in carrying out His dream for redemption of the human race. Fellowship is the very mother of faith, the parent of joy, the source of victory; and He has called us individually into fellowship with His Son.

Jesus is the light of the world. He is the Creator of life, and His life brings light to humankind. In His light, we see ourselves as we really are (sinners in need of a Savior). If you have fellowship with Him—the true Light—you will have the light that helps you ovoid walking blindly and falling into sin. If you are walking in the light as He is in the light, He lights the path ahead of you so you can see how to live. 

Fellowship with the Godhead is in prayer, and meditation in His Word; in this, prayer becomes one of the sweetest privileges, and one of the greatest assets that we are heirs to in Christ. Consequently, your joy is guaranteed to be full. In fellowship with Him you are not alone. Romans 8 vs 26 then can be a reality;  "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

As a believer, you are not left to your own resources to cope with problems. Even when you don't know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with, and for you, and God answers. If the Holy Sprint is voicing the desires of the Father through your lips, those desires will be met and granted. With God helping you to pray, you don't need to be afraid to come before Him.

Light represents what is good, pure, true, holy, and reliable. Darkness represents what is sinful, and evil. The statement “God is light” means that God is perfectly holy and true and that He alone can guide us out of the darkness of sin. Light is also related to truth, in that light exposes whatever exists, whether it is good or bad. In the dark, good and evil look alike; in the light, they can be clearly distinguished.

Just as darkness cannot exist in the presence of light, sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God. Our fellowship with the Godhead is the very heart reason for redemption.  Fellowship means sharing, equally bearing the burden, sharing in the victories. In First Corinthians 1 vs 9 the Bible says, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." He has called us to share with His Son.  

Again a believer in fellowship with the Godhead, it is necessary for us to know the authority of the name of Jesus; not as a part of a creed or a doctrine, but to know it as an actual reality.  The Father has given us the power of attorney to use the name of Jesus, and that name has all authority in heaven and on earth. (Philippians 2 vs 9 - 10). That makes us absolute masters of Satanic forces:

"In my name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover (Mark 16 vs 17 - 18); “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14 vs 14); “Whatever you shall ask of the Father in My name He will give it you." (John 15 vs 16; 16 vs 23).

This is limitless. It is the limitlessness of the prayer life and it belongs to every child of God. Therefore, fellowship with the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—is the key of life that helps us walk in the light of the world. You will never stumble but have the best of life, and consequently, receive the crown of glory—eternal life with Him.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you very much for the privilege of sonship and for calling me into fellowship with You. In You there is no darkness but the light of life.Give me the grace never to fall out of fellowship with You, fully pleasing You, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The 

Prayer’s First Priority

 

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9)

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches that the first priority in praying is to ask our heavenly Father to cause his name to be hallowed. In us. In the church. In the world. Everywhere.

Notice that this is a petition, a request. It is not a declaration or acclamation. It is not an expression of praise, but petition. For years I misread the Lord’s Prayer as if it began with praise: “Praise God, the Lord’s name is hallowed, revered, honored!” But it is not acclamation. It is supplication. It is a request to God that he would see to it that his own name be hallowed.

It is like another text, Matthew 9:38, where Jesus tells us to pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send out laborers into his own harvest. It never ceases to amaze me that we, we laborers, should be instructed to ask the owner of the farm, who knows the harvest better than we do, to add on more farm hands.

But isn’t this the same thing we have here in the Lord’s Prayer — Jesus is telling us to ask God, who is infinitely jealous for the honor of his own name, to see to it that his name be hallowed, which means honored, revered, exalted as supremely precious?

Well it may amaze us, but there it is. And it teaches us two things.

One is that prayer does not move God to do things he is disinclined to do. He has every intention to cause his name to be hallowed. Nothing is higher on God’s priority list. But we should ask anyway.

The other is that prayer is God’s way of bringing our priorities into line with his. God wills to make great things the consequence of our prayers when our prayers are the consequence of his great purposes.

Bring your heart into line with the jealousy of God to hallow his name, and you will pray with great effect. Let your first and all-determining prayer be for the hallowing of God’s name, and your prayers will plug into the power of God’s jealousy for his name.

LESSONS FROM OUR LORD’S PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19, 2022.

SUBJECT : LESSONS FROM OUR LORD’S PRAYER!

Memory verse: "And the Lord will deliver me from the evil work and preserve me for heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!" (Second Timothy 4 vs 18.)

READ: Matthew 6 vs 9 - 13:

6:9: In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

6:10: Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

6:11: Give us this day our daily bread. 

6:12: And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

6:13: And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 

INTIMATION:

Jesus thought His disciples how to pray. This is often called the Lord's Prayer because Jesus gave it to them as a model for them (and us) to keep in mind as we pray. Our prayers should be modeled in that pattern. Jesus provided a pattern to be imitated as well as duplicated. We should praise God, pray for His work in the world, pray for our daily needs, and pray for help in our daily struggles.

The phrase "Our Father in heaven" indicates that God is not only majestic and Holy, dwelling in His eternal place—heaven, but also personal and loving—our Father. The first line of the prayer is a statement of praise and a commitment to hallow, or honor God's Holy name. Praise is to be ascribed to God in respect of His glory; the exhibition of His character and operations. We honor God's name by being careful to use it respectfully. If we use God’s Name lightly, we aren’t remembering God’s holiness. 

The phrase "Your kingdom come" is a reference to God's spiritual reign to be heralded by the coming of Christ. God's kingdom was announced in the covenant with Abraham; “...in You all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12 vs 3). The kingdom  is present in Christ's reign in believers' hearts; “...For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17 vs 21), and will be complete when all evil is destroyed and God establishes the new heaven and earth (Revelation 21 vs 1). The kingdom of God begins with the work of God’s Spirit in people’s lives and in our relationships.

When we pray "Your will be done" we are not resigning ourselves to fate, but praying that God's perfect purpose will be accomplished in this world as well as the next. And how does God accomplish His purpose on earth? He does it largely through people willing to obey Him. This part of prayer allows us to offer ourselves as doers of God’s purposes or Will, asking Him to guide, lead, and give us the means to accomplish His purposes. Consequently, the lines of prayer hereafter are geared toward His means, guidance, and leading to accomplish His purposes.

When we pray "Give us this day our daily bread" we are acknowledging that God is our sustainer and provider. It is a misconception to think that we provide for our needs ourselves. We must trust God daily to provide what He knows we need, “...For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 5 vs 8), and promises to provide those needs to enable us serve His predetermined purposes.

God’s thoughts toward us is of peace, and not of evil (Jeremiah 29 vs 11). God doesn't lead us into temptations, but sometimes He allows us to be tested by them in preparing us for His predestined services. He knows the future, and His plans for us are good and full of hope. As disciples, we should pray to be delivered from these trying times and for deliverance from Satan and his deceit. 

All Christians struggle with temptation. Sometimes it is so subtle that we don't even realize what is happening to us. God has promised that He won't allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear; “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (First Corinthians 10 vs 13). 

We will always ask God to help us recognize temptation and to give us strength to overcome it and choose God's way instead. As long as God, who knows the future, provides our agenda, and goes with us as our Leader, to fulfill His mission, we can have boundless hope. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Loving Father, Faithful Companion, and Sacrificial Savior. Outside of You I am worthless. Endue me with the excellent spirit of follower-ship and obedience to You in all things, all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!