Telling the Truth (Acts 7:51)

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When the Truth is told back then and today:


Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.


57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord


People hate the truth because if they read the truth in the Bible, it would change their hearts and they wouldn’t be able to continue living their “best lives now”.


For believers of the Truth (Jesus Christ), our best life isn’t on this battlefield taking souls POW to the lake of fire. It’s spreading the Gospel to give people the alternative eternal destination called: Heaven.

1 Kings 8 Time to pray

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In 1 Kings 8 – Just as relevant today as it was then…
The Temple has been built and King Solomon gives a prayer….
22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
Yes, God will forgive us. However, now Jesus has come and we do not need to pray “towards” the Temple as Christ is with us.
Solomon speaks of the troubles we may face that we will need to Pray:
31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:
We’ve got a lot of trespass going on today…Time to pray
32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
We’ve got a lot of wickedness going on today…Time to pray
33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:
Our country is being attacked by an enemy that is sinning against God…Time to pray
34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.
Our country is has sinned… Time to pray
35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:
Our land is a mess because people have sinned…Time to pray and confess thy name, turn from our sin as we have been afflicted.
36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.
Our country does not teach Gods way and knows not the way they should walk… Time to pray
37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
We are seeing a famine in our land of abandonment of Gods Word which has lead to a deficit of Truth, now we believe lies as truth…Time to pray
38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
Every man has a plague of his own heart in rebellion against God…Time to pray
39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
Every man shall be judged according to his ways… Time to pray
40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
We lack the fear of the Lord which we have lost… Time to pray
53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance…
We have been separated from the other people as ONE BODY in Christ. Not by race, Not by earthly position, Not be education, but by FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. Heading for our inheritance that is waiting in Heaven, there will be no inheritance on earth that can be taken into eternity.
Time to pray:
57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.
60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.
61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
AMEN

Exodus 30

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We can see in the last few Chapters that God is bridging the gap between Him and His people.  This is temporary and a training ground (for submission to Him) for what is to come, the permanent bridge (built with the blood of Jesus) Christ Jesus will come and build the final church and be the head of it. 

He continues this in Exodus 30

First we see, altar of incense to be able to create an environment for prayers and atonements to rise in its smoke to God.

Second, ransom money for our sins to build the tabernacle to be able to have a way to commune with God and for forgiveness.  I note that everyone pays equal as we are all equal sinners, rich or poor.  Now tis built on Christ as the cornerstone and by Christ.  We know that Christ paid our ransom and purchased us with His Blood.

Third, the laver of brass (brass for judgement) for priests to wash in before being able to do the work of God to offer sacrifices for Gods peoples sins.  We need to be cleansed.  Now after Christ HE has cleansed us. 

Fourth, anointing oil and instructions to use it.  anointing oil was to sanctify, to set the anointed person or object apart as “holy”, at least temporarily.  Anointing oil itself without instructions would be pretty worthless so God being a good father gives instructions. 

Fifth, incense and perfume.  Perfume makes us smell better as we are sinners and even wearing a covering or sacrifices don’t make us smell better so the perfume is a covering of our smell so we can be pleasing and it is even temporary and wears off.  perfume with incense causes it to rise to the heavens.

There was nothing with lasting holiness on earth until Christ comes.  Nothing sinless on earth until Christ comes.  No permanent payment, satisfaction or sacrifice on earth until Christ comes.  Everything we are reading about in these chapters are temporary as God makes a way that qualified and chosen men (as temporary intermediaries) have to clean themselves up to be holy every time there is a sacrifice for themselves or others.

We see here they actually have to pay to build the church and for the sacraments as the Savior has not come yet to tear the vail between the temporary provision and the permanent provision with no need for a place to sacrifice or priests to sanctify us, as Christ took care of the atonement for our sins, built the church through His sacrifice.

“every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord”

We had had to pay the ransom for our souls, until Christ did it.  An impossible job through the law, which is still God’s point!  Trying to work and pay for our payment for sins would never have ended with out the provision in Christ that we were given.

Brought to my attention in this book was that the punishments are of an (early) physical death in the old testament to illustrate there SURELY IS a death for sin, God instructed us to actually have to do with our own hands the punishments on perhaps even our own friends, and in the new testament we see a focus on a spiritual death from birth until we are born again in Christ.  Perhaps because there was no way for a spiritual life with God until Christ came into our lives with payment in full.  There was no way in the old testament to be born again, people could get a temporary sacrifice with the blood of an animal. kind of like paying a toll on the toll road in the freeway of life and after Christ the tolls have been paid as long as we stay with Christ.  “GO SUNPASS” The toll roads say in Florida.  For the Christian it is GO SON PASS. AMEN.  As Christ has paid the passage for us, if we choose to follow His Way, His Truth, and His Life.

In verse 18 we seen an important foundation – communication written by the finger of God:

18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Read it and ask the Lord to show you what all this means for your walk with Him.

Imagination… and Gods Word

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5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
 
6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
 
7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
 
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
 
9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
 
This scripture should capture our attention but our demons tell us we are like Noah or that we are good with God when we are just like those who drowned while mocking Noah as he walked with God and would be a legalistic person for his certain Faith in God.
 
Imagination… Must be God restrained. Far too much of our culture is in a selfish imaginary process. Our culture comes right out and says to let it run free and wild and we can be and do whatever WE want. Not what God made us to be or planned for us to be we don’t imagine that life for it’s God serving not self-serving. We spend our lives seeking to know ourselves instead of God. I don’t need to know myself because I know what God says I am a sinner already guilty and in need of saving – which He provided a redeemer should I choose to follow as Noah did.
 
Imaging things that are ungodly then acting them out in movies, music, in the flesh, and in the Imaginarium amusement parks. We are in an ungodly Fantasyland and we like being entertained by it.
 
Our imaginations are toxic, teaching us a little bit of sin is tolerable when the Bible says it is not. We worry about toxic relationships when we the tox in the ic. We were all born dead and must be born again not keep dead.
 
Imagination must be kept moral. Not our fallen morals but Gods spoken word, then He wrote them down for us. But we are too busy to read them. I hear “I read the Bible once” And they are probably lying, they skipped stuff they didn’t like or understand or heard were too scary to read. So they once wanted to know God? The Bible says Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the WORD OF GOD. If this doesn’t jive with you then either God is a liar or you listen to the father of lies that have you POW’d. There is a war, it’s for your soul, your children’s soul, and your grandchildren’s souls. And most Christians don’t have any armor on nor eyes to see that battle that is waging in the heavens on our behalf.
 
Our imaginations root is our sin nature – fallen. Unredeemable. Without following Christ. We don’t have time to do that in this busy demonic world.
 
We sin with our imaginations. Then we act them out in the flesh. And even just the sin in our imagination is sin itself that we are guilty of just for imagining it. As Christians, we’ve probably heard that Jesus said that… even if we don’t live like He said it.
 
We commit adultery with our imaginations – most act out those imaginations. If you think you haven’t you better look again. It’s called fornication, which means sex when you’re not married.
 
Pornography uses illustrations to corrupt our imaginations into sinful acts which lead us to a separation from God and if gone unrepentant lead to death for eternity in the lake of fire. I know the devil told us it was a good instruction manual. Pornography itself (which is specifically mentioned in the Bible is a sin punishable by DEATH) even without acting it in the flesh.
 
Imaginations lead to idolatry. We see this in idol worship, someone imagined these idols were god and then worshiped them. False-hoods and fairy tails, fables, paganism, human devised – religions, imaginations of volcano gods, sun gods, moon gods, sex goddesses – you name it we got whatever we fear and whatever we love we make our gods… Separating us from Jehovah God, creator and designer of us and the heavens and the earth.
 
THERE IS HOPE in holding our thoughts and imaginations captive and testing them against the Word of God to know what is good and what is evil. Repenting from the evil and running to the good. Magic, sorcery, witchcraft, idolatry, pride, selfishness, coveting, it surrounds us everywhere in our culture and we even pay to be entertained by it!
 
Repent and do what is pleasing to God so our children won’t be taught by amusement parks that our imagination should run free! everything is about our imagination! For once they have come into teenage years their imaginations will be taken off into sexual sin and we allowed them to be taken in by the lies of the devil, the deceiver. We taught them lies about Santa, Easter Bunny, Mickey Mouse, the Tooth Fairy and a host of other lies our parents taught us and their parents taught them.
 
People say my parents taught me that and did that with me it’s our customs. That doesn’t make it right. Sinner customs don’t preserve eternal life they lead to eternal death. We need to line up our customs with what God says, not was Universal Studios or Disney says.
 
We should just agree that what God says is bad, is bad and what the world says is good is bad. I know it’s hard to turn from our evil ways but our ways are the way the lead to destruction and we lead our children and grandchildren to death and are entertained by this.
 
We are sick people. Unrepentant sinners. Not like Noah was finding favor with God because he agreed with God and was WITH GOD. We are against God and chant we are highly favored in church when we are actively sinning and in need of repentance. And when we get caught in sin we are told by demons that we are victims and someone else is bad.
 
The Bible says that NOT ONE OF US IS GOOD….NOT ONE.
 
Jesus says: STOP SINNING OR WORSE MAY HAPPEN TO YOU.
 
We have to stop our wickedness and the only way is through obedience to GOD. Or we will be destroyed. Not by a flood BUT BY MY OWN SIN and then judgment for MY SIN that I just wouldn’t accept the payment for by our continuous sinning.
 
We are living in worse. We give Gods money to the devil and his minions. We shop at stores that support with our money sexual sin that people are going to go to hell for. We cause our brother and sisters to stumble and clap as they fall down the stairs dead into the lake of fire without saying a word because we might offend them. Add another tattoo it’s for God – No it is not, it is for the devil – we were lied to and follow those lies to death and our children see us and we lead them to death. We tell our children lies that we were told because it’s our custom to lie to our children as we were lied to… it’s all good says the devil keep coming to me and away from salvation. We tell people in church come all to have communion even non-believers on the fence believers come on up and partake in the body and blood of Christ! The Bible says otherwise, the Bible says otherwise too all of the lies of the devil we partake in even in church. But SHHHHH don’t tell anyone that error, just keep walking towards the cliff together.
 
All this sinning is good with us because we are friends with and good with sin, not good with God. Most Christians don’t even read their Bibles to even know the truth to have fellowship with TRUTH. We just soak up today’s lies and sickness as we choke the Holy Spirit out of us. Unless the Bible comes as a meme on facebook we won’t read it.
 
We all rush off a cliff to our deaths and drag our kids and grandkids with us.
 
Noah wasn’t a popular guy with the world. In fact, he was mocked and thought of as a crazy man. In fact, he was the patriarch of his family a man of God that his family obviously saw who he followed for they followed him for 120 years of building a giant boat in the middle of the land.
 
Our families follow us away from the Ark, away from life, but right towards the lies of the devil and to death. Not because they see us as godly because we do things and say things that feel good to our latest fallen culture of walking dead people. We joined the DOGS, and slayers of souls. We fill our bellies with things of this world, not of God. that’s our custom.
 
We look like the world, not like Noah, who obeyed God. We look like the people that drowned and will spend eternity in hell.
 
Turn and run to the Ark, our Savior… You have to stop telling lies and living in customs of death but the Word of God and the customs of life as spoken by God not by mommy and daddy, not by the entertainers and music, not by the doctors and lawyers, not by the Christian books and novels. But the living water that comes from God, the Living Word of God.
 
Read it and be saved, repent what God tells you is not satisfactory, not pleasing and not acceptable in the kingdom of God so we can be in His will not cut off from His will at the gate as we say “what you talking about I’m highly favored, pastor said so, Reverand said so.”
 
What did God say? What is He telling you? He says to follow HIm. He says to repent. What are you waiting for we all need to stop the madness! A culture that gets it’s news and Bible from memes! and food from a clown at the drive-thru window!
 
You missed the 66 books by 40 authors that were inspired by God to write you a Love Letter that can save your soul…
 
READ IT and LIVE BY IT.

King David reminds us of the truth…

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This is true…a lie that is told to us.
 
Psalm 3:2
 
Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God.
 
That thought wasn’t from Jesus! It was from the deceiver.
 
Sometimes we get so stuck in the mud of our own sin, a life of distractions from God, and giving in to our flesh desires, our wicked hearts, and our pride. God didn’t make this mess we are today, but provided a way out of our mess.
 
King David should know! And He tells us His from His vast experience walking with and running from God because of his sin…
 
3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
 
4 I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.
 
5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.
 
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
 
7 Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
 
8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
 
God has already won this war. We just can’t see it we are so tarred and feather in our own life of sin in the flesh. We believed the lie that we were once innocent, that we were born good. The Bible says we were neither.
 
It’s about time we realize our problem isn’t our spouse, or our physical condition, our financial condition, where we live or what happened to us because of the dogs that bit us through short lives (compared with eternity) – it’s the devil. He is the problem! We are infected by him. We listen to his lies and we have conversation and intercourse with him instead of our Heavenly Father.
 
King David is right. my God has smitten all mine enemies! and broken the teeth of the ungodly… That’s right they got no bite anymore in my life… why? Because SALVATION BELONGETH UNTO THE LORD!
 
START thinking like it instead of just saying you believe it. And you can be free of those toothless dogs that hound you.

Learn from Jesus and His answers to the devils temptations

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We might do well to learn from Jesus’ answers to the devil as the devil temps us the same way he tempted Jesus:
 
4 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
 
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
 
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
 
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
 
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
 
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
 
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
 
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
 
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
 
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
 
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Matthew 3:7-4:11 “Brood of vipers!”

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“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’
 
He could just as well be talking to us today. Vipers are mischievous, serpents. Bear fruits worthy of repentance.
 
The world’s fruits are different then fruits of repentance as we can’t take repentance fruit to the bank! And we as the other vipers can’t say that we are good with the Lord when we walk unworthy, and our fruits of repentance are few.
 
We can’t rely on I read the Bible once, I pray, I go to church when I’m not working, my father or grandfather was a pastor, I talk to a pastor on the phone sometimes, I got baptized, I got sprinkled, I should read the Bible more, I should pray with my kids, pray with my husband, my wife, my mother my father, my friends, my neighbors. Those are should’a fruits, they are denial of God, refusal to obey, and in fact, show disagreement with God whom we claim to know and just love so much and that Jesus is our everything! when Jesus is what we do when we have time to do it in our busy schedule.
 
Jesus must come first. Not sometimes, not 1, 2, 3, Sundays out of 4. I read the Bible sometimes on Sunday. When most likely you don’t open it, you look at a TV screen or projector for your scriptures Fellowship must be daily, not just asking for stuff being double-minded without showing up for the fellowship class – Reading the Bible.
 
We look at these scriptures and the devil tells us just like he told the Pharisees and Sadducees that they were good. Gods not talking to YOU. He’s talking to the non-believer, No God is talking to the believer. He is talking to YOU.
 
Can you hear Him? I sure can and He’s beating a drum in my ears and showing my eyes what is evil and what is good and I can pretend I obey while I walk in disobedience into transgression away from God whom loved me first and walking with the devil who doesn’t love me at all and doesn’t care anything about me, and doesn’t have one good thing for me to pay for my sins so I can be forgiven and have everlasting life in paradise.
 
I need to listen and react to what He wants to correct in me and get instruction in righteousness from Him not from the world that seeks to kill me.
 
Be a doer of the Word, not just a hearer. (the Bible said that) But first, you have to hear so you can do. So listen to God these scriptures are meant to cut us so we can have heart surgery to save us. Report for surgery TODAY.

A FRUITFUL MARRIAGE– KINDNESS

Marriages

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  ~ Galatians 5:22 NIV

A Fruitful Marraige

A FRUITFUL MARRIAGE– KINDNESS

As Christians, all of us have the Holy Spirit of Christ living in us and His power available to us. If we are fully surrendered to Him, there should be evidence of it, and one of the most obvious signs is the presence of the fruit of the Spirit. Last month, we talked about the fruit of PATIENCE being evident in our marriages. This month we’re looking at KINDNESS.

Kindness is more than being polite, or nice– it’s going out of your way to grant favor, help, or bless someone. The Bible has a lot to say about kindness.

Romans 11:22– we are called to continue in His kindness.

Titus 3:4-5 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us…

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Sounds a bit like the Fruits of the Spirit!)

I like the idea of being “tenderhearted” in the New Living Translation: Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

And ladies, Titus 2:5 calls us to kindness right before submission to our husbands, and we are told to act this way so we won’t give God a bad name!. …be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Showing Kindness to Your Spouse

We all know what kindness is. How do we show it to our spouses? I think showing kindness might be like speaking their love language, different for each person. You can always ASK what’s a good way, but sometimes spouses (okay, WIVES) feel like if she has to tell you, it doesn’t count! Here are some practical ideas. Try them and take note of the response! (Thanks to my Facebook friends sharing how their spouses show kindness to them.)

From the male perspective–

  • [My wife] is a fantastic cook, and I really appreciate coming home to a great dinner!
  • [My wife] is very appreciative of me; I love when I come home from work and she’s excited to see me and runs to the door to greet me.  Also, the little things she does for me are very kind (the small thoughtful things like buying something I would like while she’s grocery shopping, even if it’s something she wouldn’t usually buy or want to buy).

And from the girls–

  • My husband is such a kind person – he shows me constant kindness being a servantin our home and outside of it!  Specifically, in the home he gets me whatever I need or want, and will ask me if he can do anything for me.
  • The other night we were having a fight (heavy disagreement discussion – short phrase ‘fight’) of sorts.  We just couldn’t see eye to eye.  We had to end it so we could go to sleep… The next morning I had to play piano at church and go early.  He got up – even though things weren’t fully resolved – made me coffee and helped me get out the door.  He could have stayed mad at me (since I *was* being rather disagreeable).  That is not only kind, it is noble.
  • My husband shows kindness to me by being patient with my shortcomings,extremely helpful with house/baby when he knows I am tired/sick/or stressed, andalways thanking me for what I do. What a great guy!
  • My husband makes my favorite breakfast on Saturdays and brings it to me in bed, he cleans the kitchen when I cook, he helps with the household choreswhen my schedule gets busy, he washes and maintains my car, he grocery shopswhen I cannot without complaining, and he prays for me!
  • Picks up the kids from school and makes sure homework is done and fixes dinner on the nights I work so I can sleep.
  • My spouse passed away nearly 5 years ago but he showed kindness by making sure my vehicle had gas, good wipers, etc. He also was willing to go out for mealswhen I was tired or felt bad.
  • He brings me little gifts that make my life better, because he pays attention. That is the greatest kindness, in my opinion.

(And from Auntie Em) My husband is very mechanically minded and handy, unlike me! He is always doing things that would be difficult for me, if I could do them at all, like hanging pictures. He indulges my hobbies like gardening by mowing and bagging mulch, even at houses other than ours, so we’ll have a huge stockpile. He built a serious trellis with treated lumber and cattle panel. He buys me jewelry. He takes me to my favorite Mexican restaurant even though he doesn’t like Mexican food that much. Oftentimes he will ask what he can do for me or what I need from him.  He hung a bright neon string from the garage ceiling so I’ll know how far to pull the car in, and put up party lights around our porch, AND set them up on a timer so they come on automatically. In addition to making our coffee,  he gets out my cup and all the accouterments that I use every day. He attends my choir’s concerts andphotographs and videos them. When one of us is away overnight he often leaves a card or my favorite candy under my pillow or in my suitcase. (Hot Tamales!)

Showing intentional kindness to our spouses is a good way to build up the love tank to overflowing. What kindness can you show to your spouse today?

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be-kind-to-one-another

A FRUITFUL MARRIAGE– KINDNESS

BY AUNTIE EM

5 SIGNS OF A BIBLICAL HUSBAND

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Being a husband is a high calling, and should be treated as such. It is a wonderful role with many benefits and joys that go along with it. But being a husband also comes with a lot of responsibilities. It takes a character that has been molded by God and is in the process of continual improvement in order to successfully juggle the responsibilities and expectations that God has placed on husbands.

Here is a list of 5 signs that men should work on and pray for God’s help in cultivating that will enable them to be biblical husbands.

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Stewardship

Stewardship is the quality of one’s maturity and character, and how that maturity and character are acted out on a daily basis. One of the most common complaints wives have of their husbands is that they are not consistent with their roles and responsibilities within their marriage.

 ”As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” ~ 1 Peter 4:10

Essentially, stewardship means faithfully handling all that God has entrusted you here on earth. Within the marriage relationship, that is a lot. As husbands, God has given us a wife, children, money, time, possessions, and many more things that we are to steward faithfully.

Love

I am not referring to romantic feelings, or sex, or physical attraction, which are often thought of as synonymous with love. These often make up what people refer to as being “in love.” While these things can be great, they will ebb and flow with time. They are all wonderful things to have in a marriage, but none of them are unconditional.

 ”Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” ~Ephesians 5:25

True biblical love is like Christ’s love for the Church. Stuart Scott defines this type of love in The Exemplary Husband as “A selfless and enduring commitment of the will to care about benefit another person by righteous, truthful, and compassionate thoughts, words and actions.”

Biblical love has no ulterior motive, nor is it a feeling. It is always thinking of the other person, which in this case is the wife.

Leadership

God makes it clear in the Bible that the husband is to be the leader in the marriage relationship. This is not worldly leadership, typified by the CEO of a company, or a military general, but Christ-like leadership, as modeled by Jesus in the scriptures.

A husband’s leadership is very different from worldly leadership. This is primarily because a biblical husband is a servant-leader, as exemplified by Christ. Although this sounds paradoxical, servanthood and leadership coalesce very naturally. Christ was the perfect model of a servant while at the same time being the ideal leader.

 ”It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28

This service oriented type of leadership that husbands are to display should be sacrificial in nature, and includes the ability to be decisive and to take action when needed. The primary purpose of a husband’s leadership should be to guide his family in righteousness.

5-Marks-of-a-Biblical-Husband

Service

Simply put, service is humbly putting your wife’s needs before your own, consistently prioritizing her in the marriage relationship. A Godly husband is praying regularly for the ability to put aside his natural pride, and focusing on providing for the needs of his wife.

 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

As was the case with the mark of leadership, Jesus is once again a perfect model for humble service. A husband should seek to have the mindset of Christ, that is, a focus on others without a desire for recognition or approval. Christ was always seeking to glorify God by selflessly serving others with no thought of his own needs. This is the mindset that a biblical husband should strive to have toward his wife.

Communication

This is a critical element, as poor communication is one of the biggest obstacles to a good marriage. The quality of a couple’s marriage is only as good as their ability to send and receive the correct message, right?

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Colossians 4:6

There are many components that make up good communication, both on the giving and the receiving end. However, I have found that husbands may tend to struggle in particular on the receiving end. We don’t listen well. That may be because we have a one-track mind, so when our wives start talking to us while we are otherwise occupied (watching the game, reading the news), and we simply don’t retain what they are saying. Or, it may be because we are so busy thinking about what our response is going to be that we don’t fully hear what they just finished saying.

Whatever the reason, listening is an important part of communication, and a husband endeavoring to develop good communication within their marriage should develop the ability to concentrate on what their wife is saying, refrain from interrupting, and carefully consider everything that is said.

BY JASON BALMET