Thy Maker Is Thine Husband

Rev 2:4

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 

                                                                            (Isa 54:4-5 KJV)

Our Creator, our Father, our Husband; our God has many relationships with us. He is intimately close to all of His Children. 

His bride is the church. Like a husband should; the Lord is always there to support his bride whether it is the church as a whole or the individual. It can give the desolate comfort in knowing that although they have been betrayed or deserted by their spouse; our Maker who is our husband will never leave us. He loves us more than is humanly possibly. He is and should always be our first love. Anything less is idolatry. It is adultery to love anything more than Him.

Rejoice! For there is no more wonderous a relationship that we could possibly have than the one that we have with our Creator, our Father, our husband who is the God of all the earth.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Created For Good Works

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:10 KJV)

"God don't make no junk." I heard that phrase a lot a few years ago; but, not so much lately. Indeed, he doesn't. He has created all things with a purpose. He has created all people for a good purpose. That purpose is not to do harm. Yet, here we are doing harm to the people; the world, around us.

Years ago I was in a Bible Study that was studying the ten commandments. One of the women related that she didn't worry about all of the "shall nots." She found that if she just focused on loving the people and world around her she didn't fall into quite so many traps of doing harm to others. If you love your neighbor you will not steal from them. If you love your spouse you will not commit adultery. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind false idols will not be rising up to center stage in your life. We would probably all be better off if we worried a whole lot less about what we can't do and spend that time on focusing on the good that God has created and called us to do.

In Christ we have been freed from the bondage of sin. In Christ we have been set free to love and serve God and one another. In Christ we have been given new hearts; hearts not made of cold stone; hearts that desire to do good; to do no harm. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezek 36:26)

Let us pray: 

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." 

                                                                                    (Psalm 51:10-12)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Live Joyfully With Your Spouse

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. (Eccl 9:9 KJV)

It is a good thing to have someone to share and enjoy one's life with. 

Over the years as I have done pre-marital counseling I have often found myself advising couples that if their marriage is going to last and last peaceably they probably need to find time to be together and things to do together. It seems as though many young people think that marriage should afford each partner time to do what it is that they like to do. Sometimes, they expect an awful lot of time to be who they were before marriage. Playing cards with the guys every Saturday night or in the bar for a few (few too many) drinks with your gal pals can cause more than a few problems. It can take the joy right out of a marriage. 

Hanging with your old friends or at your old haunts on a way too regular basis is nothing short of adultery. Just as putting anything or anyone before God is idolatry; putting anything or anyone before your spouse is adultery. Of course, there will be times when that might need to happen. You may have to help a friend in need instead of going out to dinner with your spouse. But, a God-fearing and loving spouse would support you in that. 

Marriage is about a lot of things. It is about sharing things, including your time. It is about commitment to the one you love enough to have married in the first place. Your spouse comes before the things and/or people who were in your life prior to Holy Matrimony. It is about sacrifice. Sometimes you both might have to sacrifice some of those things that gave you pleasure prior to making the commitment to love and care for and respect each other.

Marriage is not always easy. In fact, it can be pretty tough. But, if you want to live joyfully with the one whom you love then set aside your vanity and put that person before all other things of this world. 

Marriage may be hard at times; but, it is not a ball and chain. It is not a death sentence. It is a gift from God so that you might have someone to enjoy life with and to grow old with.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Marriage: A Major Commitment

"A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord." (1 Corinth 7:39 NIV) 

Today, my husband and I celebrate the 46th anniversary of our marriage. For the first couple of decades it was pretty up and down. There were times that the only thing that kept us together was the verse from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. The only thing that kept us together was our promise "till death parts us." Marriage is not always "a piece of cake" or a "walk in the park." In fact, it can be quite difficult at times. There will be times that you will not feel "in love" or that you even love the person in any way, shape, or form. Depending on the feeling of love to keep a marriage together is not going to cut it. A genuine commitment is what will keep the marriage together and growing. A genuine commitment to love one another will help the love in a marriage grow.  

The only way to stay together is to stay together no matter what happens. I am not advocating for anyone who is in an abusive relationship to continue to be abused. There are times when two people are also so unequally yoked that they must separate or they risk destroying each other's lives. What I am advocating is that people take a serious look at who it is they are planning to marry. If you are a Christian, it would be very wise to marry a Christian. Paul reminds us in the sixth chapter of 2 Corinthians that we are not to be yoked with unbelievers. It's not a good thing for a Christian to plan to live the rest of their lives with an unbeliever. You will be tried and tested more than you can even imagine. You may even turn your back on Jesus after years of being worn down. 

And... as to this foolishness of sleeping with anyone and in some cases anything... well, that is way more than foolishness. This lifestyle will destroy your life. You will carry a piece of every person you sleep with for the rest of your days even after you finally find the person you will spend the rest of your days here on earth with. When God joined Adam and Eve they became one. When we are united with another, we become one. You may leave that person. You may move on to another. But, you will always be connected to everyone before.

It is a common misperception that we must have a piece of paper to be joined with another in the eyes of God. He sees all. He sees who you are with today and will see who you are with tomorrow. He sees who you are joining yourself to. He doesn't need the state to tell Him who is married and who is not.

Prior to the 16th century, Christian churches did not require any kind of permission from the state for a couple to be married. All that it took was the couple committing (exchanging vows) to live as man and wife and they were married in the eyes of the church. Sadly today, we have come to believe that the only commitment that is valid is the one that we agree to when we sign on the line. Marriage is way more than a written commitment. It is a commitment, for sure. It is a permanent commitment. By using the state authorization to marry, we have given ourselves an escape route. If the marriage doesn't work, we can go through the state so that our marriage is legally dissolved and we are absolved or so we think. The question we must ask ourselves is if it is really dissolved just because the state says so. When we claim that the only valid marriage is one that is authorized by the state we attempt to justify any promiscuous behavior prior to the marriage or after. We attempt to circumvent God's good plan; His will for us. 

I am also aware that there are many who would use what I have just said about not needing the state to approve our unions as an excuse to not make a commitment at all. When I hear people saying I don't believe in marriage meaning they don't believe in legal marriage, I usually also grasp that they mean that they don't want to have to go through the trouble of a legal divorce when they're done with their latest partner. Beware then of those who say they love you but are unwilling to risk making commitments.

There is a big difference between what is legal in this country and what is good and right according to scripture. If you want a good life; if you want peace in your life and you must be with someone then wait for the right person. Jumping around, trying out new partners is really only going to cause you grief. Who has time for that kind of grief? Be faithful to your spouse and be faithful to the one true God. 

May God bless your relationship with your spouse and even more importantly with Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

No Adultery

The Sixth Commandment.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

What does this mean?--Answer.
We should fear and love God that we may lead a chaste and decent life in words and deeds, and each love and honor his spouse.

http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php



What has been done cannot be undone. How hard I try to impress upon our young people (and older) that one can certainly be forgiven their sins; but, we cannot erase our past relationships! They will always be with us emotionally and spiritually. No one except your previous partner and you may ever even know about these liaisons; but, that does not negate the fact that you were joined to one another, if only for a few minutes. And... once joined; you will never be completely unjoined. No matter how hard you try to erase the memories, they will be permanently imbedded in your mind, coming to the forefront when you least expect it.

God did not create this commandment because he doesn't want you to enjoy life. In fact, he wants you to have an abundant and, yes, even a joyful life. Marriage and family can truly be a blessing from God. The children will come and go to raise their own families. But, how wonderful it is to have one person to share your entire life with. The less our lives are encumbered with old lovers making entrance into this new relationship; the less encumbered our lives are with carrying old baggage; the more pleasant and peaceful our lives will be.

There are those who have the mistaken idea that adultery only applies to those who are in a committed relationship: that it does not apply to those who are not married or living together. This is false. Adultery includes having sexual relations (doesn't necessarily even have to include sexual relations) with anyone that you are not bound to, in marriage, for life. Any and all sins can be forgiven by God. However, in this world there are most often consequences for our sins. Adultery has many adverse effects on self and on family. The harmful effects of parents' multiple relationships on children has been well documented. Adultery and the inability to be faithful to those whom we claim to love harms the whole family as well as society around us.

This commandment was not given to benefit God; but, to benefit humankind. If you desire a peaceful life, remain faithful; first to God, and then to one another.

May God help us to be faithful to those whom He loves.

God's Peace - Pr. J