Submit One To Another

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

                                                                                                               (Eph 5:21-28 KJV)

St. Paul admonished husbands and wives to submit to one another. What does this mean?

It means even as the Lord Jesus gave himself up for the sake of humanity we are to give our own pitiful and self-serving desires up for the sake of the person we have committed to live and love forever; for the sake of our marriages.

If we could but love as Christ loves the world would be in excellent shape. We are sinners; but, that does not mean that we should not try with all of our beings to love and support each other.  As people, born again into the Body of Christ, the Spirit of Christ dwells within us and reminds us when we are about to do something that will cause physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual damage to our spouses. It also empowers us, as hard as it may seem, to say no. I love him or her too much. I have committed myself to that person in the eyes of God and will put their needs before my own desires for the sake of out marriage; for the sake of the whole family of God. 

The love that God has imparted to us through Jesus Christ empowers us to do what is right for others, for ourselves; for our marriages. When we do what is right; when we submit to one another, as the Spirit guides us, our lives will know a much greater amount of both love and peace. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Destroying The Oceans

What Kind Of Stewards Are We?

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Gen 1:28 KJV)

Watching the television documentary series "Drain The Oceans" the last couple of days has caused me a bit; no a lot, of concern over the way humankind has not been very good stewards of any of God's creation. It seems apparent that wars occur for no reason other than one person or a small group of people are greedy for wealth or power or both and have no problem with multitudes dying so that they can get what they want. They also don't seem to give any forethought to destroying the oceans or any living creature or plant that depends on water to live.  

I could not help but wonder how it is that submarines were invented and used during the Civil War; way before automobiles were even invented! Motivation to destroy others; to get wealth and or power over others seems to be a really strong motivation to get things accomplished.

It was devastating to see how many ships lie at the bottom of the oceans because of war. It was devastating to consider how many lives were lost because kings and queens and all sorts of other rulers wanted to rule the world.

I had totally forgotten about the testing of nuclear bombs during the Cold War. Testing in the Pacific Ocean; blowing up ships and islands as well as burying the nuclear waste in the ocean! I could not help but wonder how far the radiation had spread not just in the air; but, in the oceans. How far did the currents carry the garbage? What kind of effect did it have on the created life that exists in the ocean. After being bombed at the test site, the USS Independence was towed into the San Francisco harbor so that the Navy could study nuclear decontamination. It was later towed out about 30 miles so that it would sink out of everyone's sight and not in the harbor. I am certainly not an expert and that may be why I get concerned over stuff that I can only view as detrimental to not only human life; but, of all life. 

Then there were those four nuclear missiles that the United States accidently dropped on Spain in 1966. Three were found on land. The fourth was eventually found and retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea. How does that even happen!  How much nuclear garbage is hidden in our oceans left by the United States and Russia during the Cold War? 

After each day of creation God saw what He created and declared that it was good. When He created humankind He said it was very good. He gave us dominion over all that He created. I am pretty sure that by giving us dominion that He meant for us to take care of all that He created and not to destroy it.  If we destroy it there will be nothing left to have dominion over! 

Greed for wealth and power have been destructive forces in our world since the very beginning. May God help us to think a whole lot more before we do things that will further damage our world; before we destroy each other. Let us consider the consequences before we act on our impulses.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Vengeance Is Not Justice

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 

                                                                               (Rom 12:14-21 KJV)

Avenge not yourselves! I have heard a lot about justice; particularly social justice, this past year. There were multitudes of people rioting for the sake of social justice. But, is it justice to destroy whole communities because you want justice? Is it justice to destroy whole communities that most probably need justice done for them in the first place? 

When we seek justice, we need to ask ourselves if the justice that we seek really justice for the people in need of justice or is it merely to going to feed our own egos; to accomplish our own self-centered and hate filled goals?  

Is it justice to falsely produce evidence or exaggerate claims against someone because you have decided that they are an evil person and they need to be taken down. Vengeance is not justice!

Justice does not happen when we destroy or take anything that belongs to someone else without having earned it. Justice happens when we freely give a drink of water to the thirsty; when we freely feed the hungry. 

Micah prophesied: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Mic 6:8)

Before we step out to do justice let us consider if what we plan is going to actually do justice or will it do more harm to others who are not even involved. There can be a lot of collateral damage in avenging ourselves. Consider this is what you are about to do going to cause others to take vengeance on you? We ought to humble ourselves when we consider whether what we desire to do will actually bring about justice or will it cause more harm. 

May God help us to do real justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with him.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Gifts to Edify

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

                                                                                   (Rom 12:1-13 KJV)

We are each given gifts. These gifts are not meant to hurt or to damage one another. They are to be used in an honorable and loving way that we may build up the whole body and not tear it down. 

In this time when so many people are struggling may God help us to find ways to use these gifts to reconcile us to one another.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Diverse Temptations and Joy

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (James 1:2-3 KJV)

I am not all that joyful when I am confronted with temptations. I don't really have an issue saying no to temptations. I've actually gotten pretty good at it. That does not always make everyone around me happy.

Usually temptations come to me through other people; people who know where I stand. Sometimes, I can laugh it off. Other times, it is more difficult and my patience ends up getting tried and refined as I have to repeat the word "no." 

I do not feel the need for me to have to defend why I will or will not do something. My lifestyle has been worked in me for many years by the grace of God through Jesus. There were a lot of hard lessons to learn. Admittedly, I still have a long ways to go and will never get there while there is still breath in me. However; since God has taught me, by refining fires, I do know enough to say no to many diverse temptations.

I will say no to what I know is wrong. I will stand up for what is right even if others take offense to it. Years ago, in order to stay in relationship with a few people, I had to ignore the damage that they were doing to others. I stopped doing that. I lost family. I lost friends. But, in the end, a child was safe. It may seem like it would have been easier to keep my lips sealed. I tried that way and it was not. It is much easier to stand up for what is right and not yield to the temptation to cover up secrets for the sake of relationships. 

It did not bring any joy to stand up to the temptation to keep my mouth closed and cover up things that were terribly wrong. It was actually a very horrible time. However, it did give me a sense of joy and peace to know that a child would have a much brighter future for it.

One of the greatest temptations is to do nothing when something is going terribly wrong. It can be tough and resisting temptation will produce patience and in the end much joy.

May God grant us the courage and strength to say no to the temptations to do what we ought not do and to not do what we ought to do.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Winds Blow

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8 KJV)

Hurricane Dorian has definitely proven the statement that no one can tell where the wind is going to blow! I have children and grandchildren and many friends in Florida, Georgia, and in South Carolina. They all live within close proximity to the shore, so I have been avidly watching the tracking models and praying. This morning the Bahamas is suffering under great winds and may for many more hours to come as Dorian is moving at only about one mile per hour. The Grand Bahama International Airport is under five feet of water! 

The latest forecast for this morning is that Dorian will probably not make landfall on the east coast of the United States. However, that does not mean there won't be a lot of damage from the wind and water. Matthew never made landfall in Florida and it caused tremendous damage. Our home and a vehicle were damaged when the carport roof was ripped off and a tree fell on the lanais. Everything was repairable. We were more fortunate than many.  

Dorian has had everyone wondering where it will go for over a week now. Who can tell where the winds will blow! So, be prepared!

And, so it is with the Spirit. The Spirit moves in unexpected ways when we least expect. These are two things that humankind cannot control: the blowing of the wind and the movement of the Spirit of God. Regardless of the turbulence we might encounter; we know that whatever happens God is with us.

May God be with us, filling us with the Spirit of Christ, as we face every wind; every storm, that might assail us.

God's Peace - Pr. J