Emanuel

God has not called us to attain some super ethereal spiritual enlightenment. No new age mystical, science fiction, or gnostic experience will attain fullness of life or ultimate good. No, God lives in reality, with us. We see this in a baby lying in a manger and in Jesus battered on a cross and God on his throne declaring, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” . . . Jesus comes into the reality of our lives and calls out, "Come, all who are weary and heavy laden. Come sinners. Come and live in reality, and be held in my embrace. Stop seeking other ways that offer a false reality, for there is no other way. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life . . . I am Emanuel"

Stubborness vs Conviction

Stubbornness is blinding and unwilling to be corrected or to listen, restrictive, in-compassionate, and destructive, it does not understand its standing with with God. Conviction is open minded, willing to be corrected and to listen, is compassionate, and brings freedom and healing, and understands the glories of the Gospel.

Speak the truth in love

Legalism demands perfection from others. The Gospel enjoys calling others to delight with them in the journey toward God.

the Gospel pursues beauty, Legalism holds back

The Gospel pursues beauty, wisdom, growth, and the best in life knowing that it is accepted. Legalism pursues only those measures seen as obtainable and is ruled by fear and anxiety and a desire to be accepted.

Obtaining Perfection

God has called us to perfection and to be holy (beauty and joy). Fortunately, perfection and holiness has been fully accomplished in Jesus and not in our own works or efforts. Through Jesus, we have the freedom to pursue what He has obtained, perfection (beauty and joy), without fear of reprisal when we fail.

Patronage, the new "freedom"

Many today have been taught an indifference to freedom or that they should fight the tyranny of freedom. Freedom is forgotten and is replaced by patronage.

We don't owe God

I cannot live a life of "Christ died for me, so what will I do for God". We don't owe God anything, Christ paid it all.

Assuming the worst

It is better to assume the best in people and later find out that you were wrong, then it is to assume the worst in people and later find out that you were wrong. A lot of miscommunication occurs because we assume the worst, instead of pursuing the truth about the person.

Wisdom is a person

A big step in becoming wise is to realize that the world view that we have held on to far so long is messed up. We must come to realize that we are not wise. It is human nature to fear insignificance, to want to be the one who has it all together, to be the one with wisdom. But the fact is we aren’t wise. And none of us have it together. This happened at the fall when we believed that disobeying God’s command would bring us wisdom and help us to determine “good and evil”. We took the reins and decided we understood the world we lived in.

Are your conversations about your worth? If you are fighting for significance, to be worth something, to be right, to have it all together . . . you have already failed and have become foolish. Wisdom is not found in ourselves. The beginning of wisdom is to fear the LORD. In dying, we find life. We were not made to find our own way, nor to be alone. We were made to be in a loving relationship with God. And in looking to Jesus we know Truth, for truth and wisdom is found in a person.  So let us reject our foolish attempts for glory and self-wisdom and accept what Jesus did for us at the cross, and run into the loving arms of Jesus.

God's vision for the family (revised)

God’s vision for the family is part of the story of mankind. It began at creation and was set out to as a reflection of the image of God and the story of the Gospel, and God’s establishment of a Kingdom with a people, place, and king. God’s vision for the family reflects this purpose, and it began when God created Adam . . . .

 After God (the King) made a garden (the place) and then created man (the people) and placed him in it. And before he had made the woman, he immediately gave him a task and a vision. . .

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

God had given Adam a purpose, a work, and a vision to accomplish in establishing the Kingdom. God was the Author and the King of Adam’s vocation. Adam did not set his own agenda or go his own way. In joy, love, and delight, Adam looked to God for his vision and purpose. However God knew Adam couldn’t accomplish this vision alone; dominion of the earth could not be accomplished by one man. God said, “It is not good for man to be alone”. And so God brought the animals before Adam in order to see if a helper could be found to accompany Adam in his task. Yet Adam did not find a helper fit for him among the creatures God had made. . . .

So God put Adam to sleep and created a helper that was fit . . . a woman, someone who was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. And after having gone through all the animals, when Adam saw the woman that God had brought him, he cried out in joy,

                “This at last is bone of my bones

                                and flesh of my flesh;

                she shall be called Woman,

                                because she was taken out of Man.”

(Genesis 2:23 ESV)

Finally, after all his searching, he “at last” found someone above all the others who was a helper perfectly fit to walk alongside him in the vision God had set for them. In bringing the animals before Adam, first, God demonstrated that Adam was to love and cherish his wife above all others. That is why it is said,

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24 ESV)

We see this not only from the very beginning of creation, but also later, as Paul and Peter both look back to God’s purposes for marriage and have as their core exhortation to husbands . . . love, value, and cherish your wives. And in the Old Testament, through the prophets, God states, “she is your companion and your wife by covenant” (Malachi 2:14b ESV). Husbands, your wives are to be cherished, are to be held close, and to be your companion by God’s purpose, design, and covenant. If a man does not love his wife, the man is in rebellion against God.

God had given Adam a task and vision he could not accomplish alone. And for this reason God made the woman. The wife is the husband’s companion in pursuing God’s Kingdom.

After presenting the woman to Adam and bring them together, God blessed them both, added to Adam’s vision and purpose, and together commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion . . . .” The woman was created as a helper fit to help support, and walk alongside Adam as they accomplished this command of establishing the Kingdom together. Without her it would not have been possible. This too was God’s vision for the family from the beginning. And again later, we see Paul and Peter also echoing this vision as they both exhort wives to submit to and respecting their husbands. Proverbs 31 words it this way,

                 An excellent wife who can find?

                                She is far more precious than jewels.

                The heart of her husband trusts in her,

                                and he will have no lack of gain.

                She does him good, and not harm,

                                all the days of her life.

                (Proverbs 31:10-12 ESV)

“The heart of her husband trusts in her . . .” She was to bless her husband in this task. She was at last is a helper fit for man to be a co-heir, a partner, someone who will support Adam in pursuing God’s vision. “She is far more precious than jewels.”

                So the man is to love and cherish his wife. The wife is to respect and support her husband. And through this, they are to partner in accomplishing God’s vision. We see this outlined by Paul, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” Understand this . . . no one is allowed their own vision, except for God. The wife does not have her own vision, nor does the husband. But each have their roles in accomplishing God’s vision for the family. That is why as I have been writing I keep referring to God’s vision. This is important. The purpose of mankind is not to pursue its own glory, but to pursue the Glory of God. I repeat, no one is allowed to have their own vision, and to do so is rebellion. The husband is not allowed to set his own vision for the family, nor is the wife allowed to have her own vision for the family; both are to pursue God’s vision together. The scripture teaches “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25 ESV). Keeping this in mind, let us look at the roles for the husband and wife further . . .

Man was created first. Adam also named the woman. These were both signs of his authority. From the beginning the husband was created to lead and to be the head of his family. The husband’s headship was not an afterthought. Paul makes this clear in 1 Timothy 2, when he appeals to this as the reason for man’s authority in the church. Paul also refers to this fact elsewhere, “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man” (1 Corinthians 11:8 ESV). The woman was given to the man because he could not accomplish God’s vision without her. Adam needed his wife to succeed. Her support for God’s vision was essential. It was part of God’s design to accomplish the vision God had for mankind. And after God had presented the woman to the man, God “saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31 ESV). The roles God had established between the man and the woman were beautiful, breath taking, splendid, grand, pleasurable, and life giving.

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The role God had given the woman at the beginning was intensely beautiful and imperishable. She is to be a support and help-meet to her husband. The scripture says that the head of the woman is the man. The wife is to look to her husband for instruction and value his leadership and direction. God gave Adam his commandment, before He made the woman. Adam was to speak God’s word’s to his wife. Paul describes how wives are to be cleansed and sanctified by their husbands through the washing of the word (Ephesians 5:26). Apart from God and the scripture, the husband should be the first and primary source of sanctification and teaching for the wife. This is one of the reasons why Paul states in 1 Corinthians 14, “If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home” (ESV). The wife is to look to her husband in this, because he needs her. Her thoughts and concerns are precious, and as she comes to him as her head, he also is sanctified and grows in the Lord. He becomes more like Christ as she displays the beauty of the glory of God, through her submission. 1 Peter 3 shows that the wife’s submissive behavior is the most influential thing on a man’s heart. A wife has the strength to build her home. As she comes to her husband and submits to him, God’s vision for the family is strengthened.

Peter discusses the sanctifying power of a godly woman and how her beauty can even change the heart of a hard, calloused, and ungodly man (1 Peter 3).  Peter describes a beautiful woman as one who is precious, valuable, needed, and cherished both to the husband and to God. He states, “but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.” Therefore, beauty for a woman is having a gentle and quiet spirit. And this “gentle and quiet spirit” is displayed by the wife’s submission and obedience to her husband, by looking to him as her head and lord. In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul states, “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”

Obedience and submission to the husband, is the calling of God for the wife. Her vision should be caught up in supporting her husband’s pursuit of God’s vision. “A virtuous and worthy wife [earnest and strong in character] is a crowning joy to her husband” (Proverbs 14:2, Amplified). The bible describes her as noble, influential, powerful, and strong. This is not the world’s idea of submission. Our culture does not define or understand submission correctly. It is a submission and obedience that come from the inner beauty of a woman who knows her God and intimately pursues His glory.  The Proverbs 31 woman is a woman of ingenuity, intelligence, wisdom, strength, and ability. She has the full trust of her husband. “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.” Like Joseph, her husband does not need to concern himself with anything under her care. “She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.” He knows she will support him and his leadership in the vision God has given them together as a family. She is his partner and companion. She is his primary support and council. She is the number one influence in his life. He desperately relies on her strength. No one, no man or woman, is better suited to help him pursue God. In Proverbs 31, it states, “Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land” (ESV). This is not a description of the husband, but a description of what the wife has accomplished. Because of her support for her husband, he is known and respected and influential. He couldn’t accomplish this without her. God said, “it is not good for the man to be alone . . . .” The scripture states, “The wisest of women builds her house . . .” (Proverbs 14:1a, ESV). A woman partners with her husband to establish the home. And she can also tear it down in foolishness. The wife has a lot of influence in establishing or tearing down God’s vision for the family. The husband is not meant to do it without her. He desperately needs his wife as a coheir and partner in the Kingdom.

Paul writes in Titus, “Older women, . . . They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” The idea of submission comes from God’s word which means it comes from the very heart of God. He established the role of the wife at creation, and sustained it in the scripture. God established the role of the wife, for God has a bigger vision – the Gospel story of Christ and the Church. Paul states that the relationship between a husband and wife is an image of Christ and the church, a husband or a wife who fail to display their end of that image, are failing to display the Gospel in their lives to themselves and to others, and the Gospel and the word of God is at risk of being reviled. A Godly woman submits to her husband because she has a deep understanding of the Gospel and the power of the Kingdom of God. She has a love for God’s word and trusts her Father. The strongest influence a woman has on her husband is her submission. It is imposing and powerful, not weak. It is the strongest power to turn the heart of a hardhearted calloused man to God. If this kind of man is going to change, the strongest influence is the “quiet and gentle spirit” of a godly wife. And if this is the case for an ungodly man, how much more so is this the case for the godly husband. A godly woman is full of strength and influence and the wisest of them will use that strength to support her husband and build her home.

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When mankind sinned the relational purpose of God for the husband and wife became corrupted. Sin brought curses on mankind, one of those being . . . “[Wife,] Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16 ESV) Corruption entered the relationship between husband and wife. The wife’s desire was no longer to serve her husband, but instead was to devour her husband and thus corrupting her husband. And the man’s sinful response to this affront would be to crush his wife and to neglect loving and cherishing his wife, and thus destroying her. We see this same type of wording in Genesis 4, when God speaks to Cain, “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” In the Hebrew these two passages are identical. Sin desires to overtake devour Cain, but Cain proper response is to crush and put to death sin. And it is in the fall, where both the husband and the wife, because of sin, decided to take up and pursue their own vision and purpose instead of God’s. Sin corrupted the love the husband had for his wife; he no longer cherished her like he should. And the wife no longer supported and submitted to her husband, like she should. God’s vision for the family was corrupted because of sin, pride, selfishness, argumentative spirits, harshness, and more took its place.

It is not God’s design for a man to crush his wife. Nor is he a dictator. He is to portray Christ in His headship. And he is to be under Christ’s headship.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Ephesians 5)

God’s design for man from the beginning was to shepherd his family in the way of the Lord. Man was made to be the head of the family. When mankind sinned God address Adam, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife . . . .” Adam put his wife’s vision above God’s vision. Adam failed as the head of his family by failing to submit and obey to his Head and Lord. He is to lead and protect his family under the vision of God. The man is not allowed to lead by his own interests, desires or whims or the desires of others.  The husband is not allowed to have his own vision, but has the duty of establishing the vision of God for his family, by presenting the Word and the Gospel. The scripture calls husbands to love, cherish, lay down their lives, and lead as Christ does the church. This is a high calling, and is accomplished as the husband lays himself down underneath the headship of Christ. The husband’s first allegiance is to Christ. And through that allegiance to Christ, a husband can love his wife.

The scriptures paint a beautiful picture of the enduring passion and enveloping love of a husband for his wife. The husband is commanded to love his wife in the most intense and sacrificial way, with a love that represents Christ’s love for His church, His beloved. God has commanded husbands to sanctify their wives through loving her, by giving up of themselves for her, and gently washing her with the word. Husbands, this is a romantic picture of love. Imagine the physical picture of this and do this with you words, emotions, and actions toward your wife. There is nothing more romantic. This love is not weak, for the husband’s love comes from the strength of Christ. It is a love that has amazing strength and integrity to it that does not compromise on God’s heart for her, while still being full of tenderness. The husband is to live with his wife in an understanding way learning how to cherish and nourish her as his own body. Our words and actions should build her up, not tear her down. The husband is to love his wife, by shepherding his family towards the love of Christ, not himself. It is a love that firmly calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. And a husband must follow Jesus to be the husbands his wife needs.

Just as Christ's love is effectual in sanctifying our hearts, the husband’s love through Christ will be the most powerful instrument in changing his wife and helping her to grow in Christ. Even if she is an ungodly woman, this is the story of Hosea and this is the story of Christ and His church. So whether or not she is godly or not, the husband is to passionately love his wife, knowing that this love is effectual. And even if she does not change, the husband’s head is Christ, and he is to be faithful to the covenant that has been made between him and his wife, through Christ.

The scripture describes wives as “cherished”, “delight of your eyes”, “beloved”, “praised”, “more precious than jewels”, and “favor of the LORD”. We are to love our wives above all others and hold fast to her.  In Malachi God says that she is the husband’s companion by covenant. 1 Peter 3 states that she is our co-heir. And husbands are to treat their wives as such. The Lord states that he is a witness between the husband and how he treats his wife, and will not listen to a man who does not cherish his wife

“You cover the LORD's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant”.

(Malachi 2:13-14 ESV)

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7, ESV)

The wife is not just a companion but a co-heir and co-worker in the Kingdom of God. God told them both, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” The husband must value his wife as a co-heir and co-worker in accomplishing this. She is is to be his primary counsel and an equal partner in this vision. God requires that the man leads in a way that cherishes his wife as an equal partner in this vision.

God expects the husband to cherish his wife. And if he does not, his prayers will not be heard. This is sobering. The wife has been given to the husband by God. The husband should not reject or treat this gift with disregard. If he does so it is an affront to God. She is your companion, cherished one, beloved by covenant. But this is the joy that God has given husbands, to portray the love of Christ for His bride. And it is exciting, because just as God has given you your wife, He also has established the covenant between you and your wife and made you her husband. The covenant is made by God and is fulfilled through Christ. A husband leads and loves his family on his knees. And God is faithful and will efficaciously work through a man who sincerely comes to him. And he says, “Come all who are weary.” It in the work of Christ and under the headship of Christ, that a man is able to lead. A Godly man is a man who presses into the gospel.

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 “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church”. (Ephesians 5)

The relationship between a husband and wife represents Christ and the church. It is a portrayal of the cosmic story of the Gospel. How we treat our spouses reflects on this image. This story was set at the beginning when the first man and woman were created. And we have the pleasure of participating in that story in our marriages. We can have faith to believe in the beauty, the wonder, and the romance of the story or we can go our own way. But it is under the vision of God for the family that we find true romance and become participants in something greater than ourselves.

Wisdom is not legalism

Sometimes we call wisdom "legalism" simply because we don't feel good at it and have issues with our identity and don't understand our identity in Christ. Wisdom is freedom.

False interpreters of God's Word

The original sin was reinterpreting God’s word, rebelling against God’s word, and putting our interpretation of the world, wisdom, good and evil above God’s word. We tend to do this as we read the scriptures. Often we don’t know we are doing this for we misinterpret scripture naturally do to our fallen nature. Here are some common fallacies when interpreting the scriptures:

 • Interpreting the scriptures through your own morality or truth, determining what is good and evil and what wisdom is and then manipulating the scriptures to fit your standard of morality and truth.
• Stating that the scripture or the writer is inconsistent and fitting that into an argument around your determination of truth. This is a pretty sure test that the person has poor scholarship and hermeneutics, is not open minded, and is trying to fit their interpretation into the text, instead of allowing the scripture to speak for itself.
• The facts are ignored either do to laziness or because they don’t like the truth and prefer to be closed minded.
• Ignoring the fact the scripture is God breathed and written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
• Ignoring the marriage of Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology.
• Ignoring the Gospel.
• Proof texting, taking scriptures out of context.
• Not being open minded and using and having poor scholarship. Good scholarship is not quoting “experts” and “papers” that in reality are horrible and have poor scholarship or do much of what is written here. A degree or paper does not make one a good scholar or open minded.
• Being a wooden literalist – both liberal and conservatives do this.
• Changing the Greek definitions of words to fit their perspective.
• Ignoring the perspective of proven and tested godly men throughout history.
• Thinking in extremes or in the middle. Scripture is holy, totally other; it does not fit on a scale.
• Taking the text out of the whole of the Bible.

Since, true interpretation of the scripture is against our fallen nature, we must die to ourselves, lay our bodies down as living sacrifices, turning away from comfortably to this world and our own interpretations, and instead look to the only true God, so that we come to understand and discern the goodness, beauty, and truth of God's will, through the testing of His word.

Responses to cultural family views

In battles within the church on what it means to be a godly family, husband, wife, father, and wife, etc., more often than not you have different cultural views vying and setting blows for supremacy. Issues of the family are close to the heart and our views are developed within the culture we were raised in. Our views are often ingrained in us and it can be hard to separate truth from fiction, culture from scripture.

Many responses (fortunately not all) I read or hear about on family issues are not objective writings  or thoughts exploring the heart of God in these matters. On all sides of the issue, preferences suddenly become commands and wise and objectively good things are foolishly rejected out of fear for legalism. All in an interest to defend our little kingdoms. Both are equally foolish and sinful. We love promoting our culture or kingdoms. We might claim a view is pharisaical and extra-biblical only to fail to realize that our views are just also another cultural response from another end and we are just as pharisaical and extra-biblical, if not more so, then we are claiming the other perspective is. It is not about defending the scripture, it is about defending what I think is true. We are insane. It is easier to defend one’s cultural views, then it is to live in the Gospel and submit to scripture. For the scripture is always challenging us, pointing out our sinfulness, and putting to death our culture views and working to replace them with the Kingdom of God. 

It is rare to see people actually lovingly and honestly listening and trying to understand the other person’s perspective. And there is some good stuff out there on the scriptural view of the family if people would take the time to really listen and get to know what the view is. Often it is just rejected outright because it doesn’t fit our culture. And if it doesn’t fit our culture it must be wrong. It is much easier to create a straw man, then it is to listen. It is easier to attack then it is to love. It is easier to defend ones kingdom and ones views, instead of being open minded and exploring the depths and wonders of the scriptures on these matters.


Being open minded requires death. The scripture is very clear on that matter. In order to understand the depths of God’s wisdom and beauty, we must continually lay our bodies down as living sacrifices and not be conformed to the wisdom of this world. Because we are born in sin and are raised in a culture of sin often the truths we fight for are either only partial truths or not truth at all. We naively fight for the kingdom of this world, because it is the one we have known or have grown to love. It is one that we feel comfortable with. And we have learned to defend or comfort zone well. In Christ, a new Kingdom has come, one that is vastly different from the kingdom of this world or any of the thoughts of men. His ways are not our ways. They don't fit any cultural phenomena that we have known or can conceive. But as we diligently lay our lives down and allow the scriptures to wash over us, we will come to know this Kingdom more and more. We will be gripped by its wonder and beauty and we will realize that we are not called to the wisdom of this world, but to something that shakes and shatters the very foundation of this world and is meant to only leave those things found in Christ. This is also the attractiveness of this Kingdom. There is no greater beauty than Christ. 

If we want to understand what the scriptures say about family issues, we must leave our cultural perspectives on the altar. Stop holding on to and defending your culture perspective, even in areas where we are right. In defending them our hunger for God is diminished. Our cultural perspectives don’t fit in the Kingdom of God. Even when they our correct, they are way too small, we must still die to ourselves. Allow the scriptures to do their work, to wash over us. We will spend a lifetime grasping the depths, height, and width of God’s perspective on these matters. And these heights and depths, and widths are ok to explore. And they ought to be explored. Because of the Gospel, we don’t need to be afraid to explore these things.

We lose a lot of joy because we are unwilling to die to our own ways. The wisdom and desires we so desperately and foolishly hold on to and grip, will not bring the freedom of letting go and falling into the arms of God.

God's wisdom may seem to be foolishness to this world, but the wisdom of this world is a blind foolishness that hasn't ever seen the world, glory, or beauty.

The comfort of the devestating message of sin

If we fail to make sin devastating in order to sooth someones ego, we fail to comfort the soul. For when we flatter and pamper, we give a sense of self-ability and self-worth, an attitude that we can measure up, that we are ok in of ourselves. We start looking to and relying on ourselves. Yes, that is insane, because the fact is we can't measure up. We can never attain self worth, not truly and fully. We know this in the deepest parts of who we are, that we are not totally ok.

The comfort is that sin is devastating and we are helpless and worthless. There is nothing we can do. . . . And we don't have to. .. . .Jesus has done it all. Through the work and worth of Jesus, we gain more for more than self-worth when we come to Him. We gain the love of God.

So let us not be shocked or devastated by the depths of our messed-upness, nor make light of sin, for we have a glorious Gospel that is bigger than the deepest depths of sin. Let that depth be apart of our speech.

Come . . .

Have you ever wanted to be punished when you’ve done something wrong? Let’s say you’ve sinned against God, and then go to prayer and confess, and then there is nothing, your just forgiven. Or you have greatly and significantly hurt a relationship and they respond with your forgiven and that’s it, everything is back to normal. And then we feel awkward and feel like we need to do something. We need to make it right or at least suffer a little. We want to feel like we have paid for our wrongs. We have this sense of justice that nags us. We know justice needs to be met.

In Isaiah 58, God says,

And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.
⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

God calls us to come as we are, filthy sinners, and to enjoy the richest of fare. We don’t pay for it with our own pecuniary resources of holiness. We cannot make things right or bring justice. We cannot pay for our wrongs. But through Jesus Christ, God calls . . .

Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
² “Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.

Cease striving, know that Jesus Christ is God, and behold the works of the Lord. Justice was met through the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus took on the punishment we deserved. He filled both our need for justice as well as God's justice. He has reconciled us to God. He makes wars to cease. And He calls out to us, "Come all who are weary and burdened, come find the justice you are looking for, come find rest from you labor." He will be exalted and bring a people to Himself among the nations

Psalm 31, is a song describing God's reaction to the sinner. He states that in the midst of our sin, we should, "Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you." Often in our sin, we don't want to come to Him, we are like a stubborn mule. But in His tender love, He cries out, while it is called Today, "Come."

Leadership means you have no rights

In leadership, we lose are rights to ourselves and have a responsibility to become servants. Our duty is to pursue what is best for those we serve. This is how God leads us. God pursues out best. Every leader is under this truth, to serve others under God, who pursues are best. And because of this, leaders cannot pursue our own vision. They have no rights to themselves. Leaders are responsible to die to themselves and to lay our lives down as living sacrifices, and let God’s vision rule in their service to others.

The duty of joy

Not pursuing goodness with all our might do to fear of legalism keeps us from God’s riches just as does finding our worth in pursuing law and perfectionism. Both come from trying to find our worth in ourselves. Both are dangerous because they come from a lack of faith in the worth and work of Jesus.

Proverb - speak the truth

If we avoid speaking the truth in love . . . and with wisdom, we are saying the Gospel is not big enough for that situation.

Because of your hardness of heart

"Because of your hardness of heart"

The root of divorce, the tensions, and our struggles in marriage are our hard hearts. We refuse to surrender to the Word. We are skeptical and don't have faith in God's grand vision of marriage, trusting in our own desires instead. We refuse to surrender to ourselves and demand that our visions and will and view of the world rule.

A marriage brings together two messed up sinners, who need the word of God spoken into their lives. The battle for marriage is a battle to lose oneself and to trust in a God who deeply loves us. As we trust and cast our lives on God, believing the Gospel, and letting it penetrate into who we are, we will begin to be captivated by the image of the portrayal of Christ and the Church. This is the pursuit that makes marriage grand.

As a body, we must be speaking this truth into each others lives. Our sinful natures battle this truth with in us. We are so prone to wonder. But while it is called, Today, let us not forsake encouraging each other, reminding each other that the beauty of the Kingdom is breaking through and is more real than anything in our imagination or skepticism. 

Wisdom and Knowledge

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When Adam fell, he chose to find his wisdom in something other than God, discerning good and evil for himself, cutting off his dependency on every word that comes from the mouth of God. In Jesus, our Word, God has called us to lay down our lives as living sacrifices, that we might have our minds renewed in dependency on our God.

 We must approach life in humbleness, realizing that the sin of man is making their own assumptions. We must not trusting in our ability to discern good and evil or in our own wisdom, but live lives looking to and fearing the One who searches our hearts and souls and allowing the scriptures to come into us as a double edged sword. He alone is our source of discernment, knowledge, and wisdom.

Come those who are heavy laden

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

God doesn't want us to come to Him all sorted, figured out, fixed. He wants us to come to Him broken, heavy laden, tired, and messed up. We come to Him as sinners. Stop laboring in your own ways to fix your self or pursue false rest and joy. Come as you are. And allow Him to give you a yoke that will give the deepest rest for your soul.

It is a comfort knowing I can come to Him with all my heavy ladeness and insanity, because that I am.

Riches

When God says that He will not give His glory to another, this means there is no glory, no goodness we have to offer. There is nothing I have to offer. This is awesome news. I don't get the riches and beauty of myself (which is honestly less then muck), instead in Jesus I am offered the riches of God. Oh! It is grand that I am nothing, that I might gain Christ!

Do not seek greatness, seek a broken heart

We are not meant for great feats, great feats are nothing in the presence of God. We are meant to have surrendered hearts, to have hearts of stone turned into flesh and to be conformed into the image of Christ. If we get this, let God do what He will with this clay, whether high or low among the feats of men.

Creating Dialogue

Here are some tips in having a conversation with someone who disagrees with you

·         Be open minded

o   Be Humble – you always have something to learn

o   Go into the conversation with an expectation to learn something from the other person

§  Regardless of the disagreement, you usually have something to learn, even if it is only how to communicate better.

o   Be willing to be proven wrong

·         Don’t put your assumptions on the other person

o   If you assume or make assumptions about the other person’s views, you will find that you are arguing with a person that only exists in your own imagination, instead of talking to a real person

o   Don’t attribute ideas, thoughts, arguments or consequences to your opponent that they do not hold to.

§  This only creates a rift between you and the other person

o   Don’t take their statements out of context or out of their intended meaning.

o   Don’t assume things about their character, motives, or heart.

·         Listen

o   Work hard to fully understand your opponent’s views, background, and perspectives.

§  Give them a chance to clarify.

§  Take the time to understand their position from their perspective.

o   Ask questions and check with them to see if your understanding of their position is correct.

·         Present the opposing view in its strongest form, don’t build a “straw man” and then knock it down.

o   Work to be able to present the opposing side in a way that they would say that you were representing their view in an honest way and would comment, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

·         Speak the truth in love

o   Engage the person

§  Get into the other person’s world. Talk with the person, not at the person. Ask you self, “How do I communicate this in a way that the other person can understand it where they are at?”

§  It doesn’t help to prove you are right, if you cannot engage the other person with the truth.

o   Be willing to be proven wrong

§  The purpose of a conversation is not to defend my position but to help each other grow in the truth. Who cares if I am wrong? What value is there in holding onto a lie? What we want is to align ourselves with what is true. Sometimes that will mean that I have to change my position.