Growing Together

Growing Together

My son and daughter-in-law (greatest one ever) were married about ten months ago.  They do not live to far from me, so I get to see them on a fairly frequent basis.  They took a fair amount of time during the engagement period getting to know one another, but getting to know one another extends far beyond the engagement and into the marriage.  My wife and I have been married 33 years this year and I continue to discover who she is.  Do I know much more about my wife than my son does his?  Yes I do.  This is a product of time spent with my spouse and deliberately trying to understand who she is.  Of course, as any man knows, he will never figure his wife out in complete.    However, as time goes forward, a man and a woman who exercise love toward one another and spend time with one another will steadily be growing together.  Their knowledge will increase, their bond will increase, and if their path is walked with God, their joy for the future will abound.Growing Together

The Bride of Christ need never fear about the faithfulness of their Groom.  He loves at all times.  He longs for us to embrace eternal life together.  Yet, as in any marriage, we must spend time together so that we will draw closer to one another.  Encouragement in scripture such as 2 Timothy 2:15, Acts 17:11, and I Thessalonians 5:17 call for us to discover who our Lord is and to communicate with Him.  The Apostle Peter encouraged continually growth in knowing Christ to those who took His name (2 Peter 3:18).  When we walk with Him, showing our love for Him (John 14:15) our relationship will bloom.  In any marriage, the longer you discover one another, you know what pleases, comforts, and brings peace and happiness to your companion.  Efforts such as this, applied over time, come from the inner man, allowing Christ and His Bride to be growing together.

Consider psalm 119.  Over and over David, a man after God’s own heart, speaks of the blessedness of the words of God.  He delights in His testimonies.  He wants to know God’s thoughts.  He knows the presence of the Lord in his life makes him a better man.  David cannot help, but praise God because of the relationship God extends to Him.  He does not have to worry that God won’t be there, that God might fail him, or that God cannot be trusted upon in times of trouble.  This comes from seeking closeness and building a stronger relationship with God with each dawning day.  This bond comes from not neglecting a relationship, but cultivating it.  Would you consider simply not hearing your spouse’s voice for days or weeks at a time?  If you answered yes, by the way, it isn’t because things are as God planned them is it?  It is because you and/or your spouse have stepped away from God’s plan, if only in a moment’s display of poor behavior.

As previously stated, exercising love and spending time together is core to a happy relationship.  When either point is neglected, the relationship will suffer.  God will never be the contentious spouse.  He will never fail to love you.  He will never be unkind.  He will never be unfaithful.  So, when the relationship with God seems to be crumbling, you feel your faith waning, it isn’t God, it is you.    There is a solution, breathed from the mouth of God himself:  “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”  If you desire God, seek him, and love Him, you will never be alone.  You will experience the joy of togetherness eternally.  That union will always grow and produce the fruit of joy.

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Is the Temple in Ruins?

Is the Temple in Ruins?

temple destroyed

The time of the writing of Psalm 74 is unknown for its contents fit into almost every situation when the people of God grieved as they saw the temple in ruins. The psalmist described the holy city and how the sin within God’s nation had brought about such dire circumstances.

He described the action of those evil men who entered that sacred temple. “The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary” (v. 3). “They seem like men who lift up axes among the thick trees” (v. 5). “With axes and hammers, they have set fire to Your sanctuary…They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land” (vs. 6-9). Nothing was sacred to those who destroyed God’s temple.

Tragically, we live in a day where much the same has again happened to God’s holy temple. The Jerusalem temple was destroyed years ago, but our God still has a new temple.

Paul described what happened when the temple (the church) came into that Gentile city. “You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord…a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-23).  That Old Testament temple was about to be razed, and His New Testament temple was replacing it.

Tragically today, His new temple is suffering the fate of the old. The enemy has entered His holy temple and destroyed much of what Jesus placed there. Far too many of them have destroyed the importance of the Lord’s Supper. The early church gathered every week for the express purpose of sharing His supper (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23-33). In most churches in America, there is a weekly assembly to listen to choral groups or to listen to a message by the head pastor who directs that church. “With their axes and hammers” they have destroyed the purpose how His holy temple worshipped.

Those same “axes” have minimized the baptism which unites us with the death of Jesus and His sacred blood. In its place they have produced “the sinner’s prayer,” which they affirm the moment it is said salvation comes. While the Bible says baptism saves us (1 Pet. 3:21), their axes and hammers are used to say that baptism does not save. While Jesus says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved,” they use their axes to say, “He who believes and is NOT baptized will be saved.” They destroyed His Old Testament temple, and men are doing the same to the New Testament temple.

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Targeting

Targeting

Over the past couple of years, professional and college football have adapted rules to include a penalty for “targeting.” Targeting is defined as forcible contact with the crown of the helmet to the head or neck area of another player. This kind of contact is dangerous both to the player being hit and the one delivering the blow. In fact, the rules committees decided that this is such a dangerous way to engage an opponent that the person found guilty of such is to be disqualified (ejected) from the game. While controversial, the rule is designed to protect the players from themselves as serious head and neck injuries have resulted from these kinds of hits. When players observe the rules, it makes for better game play; when they don’t follow the rules, serious problems ensue.

This reminds me of what God told His people in Deuteronomy 30:19: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” God gives us instructions to follow, and when we do, we enjoy life; when we don’t, we risk the consequences. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Not only are there consequences in this life, but there will be eternal consequences. It is imperative, therefore, that we walk by faith and obey the Lord’s commands that He gives us for the reason He gives them to us. Will we enjoy life by following God’s word? Or will we be disqualified?

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Counsel in the Heart of Man

Counsel in the Heart of Man

“Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Proverbs 20:5 KJV)Wise Counsel

Wise counsel comes from a place deep within the heart. A man who possesses great wisdom has obtained that wisdom because he has dug for himself a deep well of knowledge of God’s Word and has truly lived by that knowledge. A man like this would be a wise counselor. A man of understanding would want to benefit from this wise man’s counsel. In order to do so, the man of understanding will seek to draw out that wisdom even as a thirsty man will seek to draw water from a well. Drawing water from a well requires effort on the part of the thirsty drinker. Likewise, to gain wisdom from wise counsel, the one who “thirsts” for it will seek out the counselor and ask advice or even submit to becoming his disciple.

Paul on several occasions urged his readers to follow his example in the faith and to seek out others who also walk in faith and to imitate them. We can learn from the wisdom of others by a careful examination of their example and by simply listening to their teachings. The ultimate deep well of wisdom, though, is God’s Word, wherein we must be diligent in drawing out that wisdom.

Read Matthew 11:28-30; 1 Corinthians 4:6; 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 2 Timothy 2:15

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Am I the Audience?

Am I the Audience?

Following up on our video “Understanding Like the Audience“, this video goes a little bit further in presenting the concept that sometimes, we aren’t the direct audience to some words God has imparted.  Some commands were meant for the direct audience and not us.  When we have this understanding, we will be better prepared to interpret and apply scripture where necessary and intended.  Most importantly, we will not try to make application where God has not intended.

Thought:  Were the commands to Adam, Moses, Noah, Israel, the apostles and others meant for you?  Or should they be left where they were given… in the hands of the men and women they were delivered to at the time.  The audience to which a command is given matters.

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