Tag: LORD

We are all Named by God

You ever think about where your family name came from. Well I am here to tell you the mystery is solved. Your family is named by God.

“15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,” – Ephesians 3:15 (ESV)

Okay, maybe you were not named directly by God, but your existence is due to the Father and His Grace and Glory. That is right, we exist thanks to the Father and therefor can attribute our name to Him who brought us forward.

I am the son of an earthly father and my Heavenly Father. I have the name of my earthly father and am in the Lamb’s book of life thanks to my acceptance of He as my savior and God as my Father. I am an heir to my earthly father’s estate and an heir to the kingdom of heaven. I was named by God.

What is your lineage? Are you living life knowing of only your earthly father? What if you were to live knowing that you have a heavenly father who named you and your are/could be heir to His kingdom with Jesus?

Be at Home

Ever wonder where we are to set up shop. Where are we to be all that God would have us be. The answer is where we are. We are to be home working for the LORD.

“4and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” – Titus 2:4-5 (ESV)

This morning I read this passage and wonder what I am I to learn today. The passage is titled in my ESV Bible, “Teach Sound Doctrine” and Paul is writing to Titus to encourage him in his ministry. Paul is indicating here the role of men and women and how they raise Godly men and women. Where there is a lot to the passage, I was led to the “working at home” statement. We are to work at home where we are.

Yes, Paul is speaking to women and their role here, but I was struck by an extension of it to all of us as followers of Christ. Men are to leave their mother and father to become one with their wife. Wives are to follow their husbands and run the home. Husbands and wives are to be together at home working.

In Lori and my life together, we have not always been working at “home” together. I used to travel 2-3 weeks a month and even at one point lived away from the family for about 4 months until they could finish the school year and we could again be together. Those times were hard. We were not always on the same page in our family. It was only when we came back together at “home” that things seemed to settle in and become more consistent. Lori even worked as a teacher for a few years in the town about 20 minutes from us and it was not until she got a job where we lived that things settled in.

I say all of the above to show that in our family, we are best when we are together at “home” where we are. We are to be a family where we are and not separated. The wife should be close to “home” to care for things there. The husband should be “home” more than not. Together the husband and wife should use “home” as their base of operations and teach their children to do the same.

When it comes to our Christian life, we should be at “home” where we are. I have written to the idea of having a church home where you are and I do believe that. We should also do the work of Christ right here where we are first of all. Our church vision is, to see “A gospel movement that reaches every person of the Hill Country and is carried to the ends of the earth.” We start right here at home. In my home I am to be at “home” with my wife and family doing the work of the LORD right here at “home”.

In our world today, it is common and socially encouraged to look for opportunity in far exotic places. To make a splash somewhere out there in the world. But the Bible teaches us to start right here at home. We are to first get our own home in order and expand out from there. We are to “Teach Sound Doctrine” at “home” where we are now and then allow that to be carried from there. We start by teaching our children that doctrine in our home and allowing them to carry it out to their home. That is the expansion we are to be looking for. We are to be and work right here at “home” where we are.

Where are you looking to God’s work? Are you seeking to make a big splash somewhere in the world? What if you were to do the work of the LORD, at “home” right where you are as your starting point?

Aim to Please the LORD at Home

We have a couple of different homes to speak of, and I am not talking of our summer and winter homes. In each of these homes, our task is to please the LORD.

“1For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” – 2 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV)

We have a tent/home here in this world and we have a building/home in heaven. Each of these are of value to us. Here in this world, we have the tent/home that is provided by God for us to live in while we are here. And in heaven we have a building/home that is provided by God for us to live in when we arrive. I am not going to talk to or about the temporary and permanent representations that are a tent and a building, although they are worth looking at for sure.

“6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,” — 2 Corinthians 5:6 (ESV)

While here in this world, we long for our heavenly home. We see ourselves as naked and away from the LORD. I find myself looking at where I am and knowing that I will be so much better off when I find myself at home with the LORD. I know that this world is temporary and that I have a home with the Father just waiting for me to arrive.

“9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” – 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 (ESV)

But, whether I am here in this world or with the Father in heaven, I am to work to please Him. I am obligated to work for the LORD, as He has provided a home for me. He has provided the tent here in this world and a building in heaven. I am the recipient of the gift and I am accountable to the work I do for Him.

So, whether we are in this world or in heaven, our goal is to please the LORD. It matters not where we are, as our home has been provided by the Him, whether our tent here or building there. We are to aim for pleasing the LORD.

What is your aim in your home? Are you looking out for and pleasing yourself here in this world? What if, knowing that your home is from the LORD, you would aim to please Him as you will be accountable to your work here just as in heaven?

Home Made with Christ

I began a study of the word “home” and this morning I see where and how my home is made. It is made with Christ.

“23Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’” – John 14:23 (ESV)

Jesus is speaking to the disciples in the upper room here. He is telling of the coming of the Holy Spirit and discussing the fact that though He will be physically gone, He will always be with them through the Holy Spirit. He is speaking to who He will be with, the disciples, yes, but also those who are in and keep the Word of God. He and the Father will make their home with those who follow and keep the will of the LORD.

“21Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’” – John 14:21-22 (ESV)

Jesus tells the disciples that He will make himself known to those who love Him and keep His commandments. He is asked is answering the question of Judas as to why He will only make Himself known to some and not the whole world.

Jesus answers Judas and really me as to something that I have long questioned myself. Is Christ for all and will all be saved. The answer is NO. Not all will come to know Christ. Yes, most everyone will hear of Christ, but not everyone will know Him. And as Jesus says, “And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” The Father will only make a home with those who hear of and follows and keeps His Word.

So, how and where is my home made, with Christ. I have a part to play in it. I have to hear of the LORD and study His Word and keep His Word, not just in my mind, but live it out every day. When I do, the LORD will come to me and dwell within me and make His home with me.

Where and how is your home made? Are you working for it on your own? What if you were to hear and follow the Word of the LORD and know that in doing so, He will make His home with you?

Home with Joy and for Rest and Replenishment

Being out there in the world is hard. It is challenging and tiring and frankly a battle at every turn. We are going to expend ourselves fully in pursuit. We are to be pursuing the Father. We are to be out there doing the work that He has for us in this world. We are to give all that we have in the pursuit of doing His work.

“4Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like streams in the Negeb!

5Those who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy!

6He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.”

— Psalm 126:4-6 (ESV)

And what after we have expended all that we are to sow the seeds of the LORD, we come home with joy in our hearts for the work is worth it. We will come home rejoicing at the work and with us we bring the satisfaction of knowing that we have sown the seeds of the LORD where He would have us sow. We come home with joy in our hearts even as we are weary from the work, knowing that the LORD will restore us fully so that we are able to go out the next day and do the same.

“7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:7-9 (ESV)

It is in the sowing for the LORD that we find joy. We are rewarded with and thanks to that which we sow. If we are out there for ourselves, we will reap yes, but the reward will require more work, without rest or joy. But, when we are out there for the LORD, we have His Word to provide rest and replenishment. We find joy in the work and that joy leads to rest so that we can again make our way out for more work the next day.

Yes, we are to be out there doing the work of the LORD and yes, we will get tired from the work. When we return home after the long day of doing the work for the LORD we will find joy in the work and rest in the Word. When we return home we are to rejoice in the work we accomplished and then get back in the Word of the LORD to find rest and replenishment for the next day’s work for Him.

Our home is not just a place for us to anchor, but a place to find joy. We come home, whether our personal home or church home with joy in our heart and seeking rest and replenishment to go out and continue the work of the LORD and returning home again with joy and seeking rest and replenishment to go out and continue the work of the LORD again.

What are you finding at home? Are you finding more of the same, work to keep up? What if you were to do the work of the LORD in the world and come home with joy in your heart and seeking rest and replenishment from the Word to go out again the following day?

Find a Church Home (They are Plentiful)

Have you found a church home? It is a challenge sometimes I know. Lori and I were members of a church for many years in our childhood home. We then moved to another city and it took a few months to find the right church home. We then moved again and it took another while to find the right church home. And then we moved to another a few years later. So the process can take some time, but notice that we did not stop looking for the right church home for us.

“1How lovely is your dwelling place,

O LORD of hosts!

2My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.”

— Psalm 84:1-2 (ESV)

The psalm above speaks to the loveliness of the dwelling place of the LORD. We are to seek it out and find joy there. This is not just one singular location. The “dwelling place” of the LORD is where He is and not a single specific place. Remember that the LORD is omnipresent and is everywhere. He is where you need Him to be. So the “dwelling place” is where we can find Him and “sing for joy” to Him.

“3Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O LORD of hosts,

my King and my God.

4Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise!”

— Psalm 84:3-4 (ESV)

And now, where do we find our church home? I cannot say where, physically that is for you. As noted earlier, Lori and I moved a few times and it took time to find the church home for us. But, I will say that if/when we go back to those places, we have a church home to attend. Places where we know we will find a place to “sing for joy” to the LORD.

Looking at the above verses three and four, even sparrows and swallows find a home or nest to raise their young. I think to around my house here. On the front and back porch, we have nests that have been built by some barn swallows. These nests, during the spring and summer times are full with swallows as they have a raise their young. Multiple nests in one location that are not lacking as a home for some. Lori and I like to think that these are the same swallows coming back year after year to a home where they feel comfortable to raise their young.

Churches are the same where you are. There are churches everywhere in your area. I am willing to bet that there is a church home for you in one of them. It may take you some time to find the right one where you find your loving connection to the LORD. But, I will say, you must keep attending and looking for the “dwelling place” of the LORD for you to feel His presence. If not in the first place you go, then go to another, and another, and another. You “sing for joy” in every place and know that the LORD will be there with you.

At some point you will find the “dwelling place” of the LORD that is right for you. And you will find yourself and others singing and worshiping the LORD there always. And even if you move to another area, you will know that you can always return to the church home where you felt comfort to “sing for Joy” to the LORD and know that He is there with you. Don’t give up and keep looking for your church home.

Where is your church home? Do you have one? What if you were to keep searching, knowing that there is a church home for you in your area that is the “dwelling place” of the LORD and you can “sing for joy” to Him?

Wife and All Her Beauty

I know that my wife is beautiful. I am in awe when I see her. We have a picture of the two of us on our wedding day where I look completely captivated by her. Thinking of that now, I remember being teased a bit about it as not being a serious picture. I don’t think that is the case at all. I see it now as a picture of how I should see her. Radiant and glorious to behold.

We have seen in the scriptures that Christ is the head of the church. And now we see that the New Jerusalem is the Bride and Wife of the Christ.

“9Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’” – Revelation 21:9 (ESV)

I know that it does not say that explicitly in the verse above, but the full passage is titled “The New Jerusalem” in my ESV Bible. The angel does not say to introduce you to the Bride, but to “show you the Bride”. The angel is showing John around the city. Showing him her beauty and grandeur.

“2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” – Revelation 21:2 (ESV)

Make no mistake, the “Bride” of Christ is beautiful. In the passage that is Revelation 21:9-27 we find the description of what the New Jerusalem will be like. The sheer size of her, the ornate structures. The jewel adorned walls and foundations. The gold streets. The radiance of her sight is almost unimaginable. She is the most beautiful ever seen.

I take this description of the New Jerusalem and translate that to the beauty of my wife. Lori may not be a greatly ornate structure, or be adorned in jewels, or have gold streets, but she is radiant and the most beautiful to me. Isn’t that how we should see our wife, as the most beautiful sight seen?

“3Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4but 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. 5For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.” – 1 Peter 3:1-6 (ESV)

Just as the beauty of the New Jerusalem is for Christ, the beauty of our wife is for us to see and for the world to recognize. She is for us. We see her in her true beauty as presented by God. She is to be beautiful to us and to God. And this is the true beauty of your wife.

What is the beauty of your wife? Is she there for all the world to see as beautiful? What if she is to be beautiful to you in your sight and for God as the New Jerusalem is beautiful for Christ?

Husband of One Wife

“2Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,” – 1 Timothy 3:2a (ESV)

“12Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.” – 1 Timothy 3:12 (ESV)

“5This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.” – Titus 1:5-6 (ESV)

The above verses speak to the qualification to be an overseer, deacon, and elder in the church. I also consider this to be the same for the followers of Christ. Whereas I have listed these four verses, they are not the only qualification. Regardless of the number of them, Paul has written of the specifics of being a leader or caretaker in Christ’s Church.

As I am studying the word “wife”, I am going to keep my eyes there in my writing this morning. In the qualifications of each of the positions in the church “the husband of one wife” is mentioned in each of them. And to go along with it, there is the “managing their children and their own households well”. How can someone be considered a leader of the church if their ow house and relationship is in chaos? If there is a lack of stability in the home that is led by the husband, how can there be stability elsewhere the husband works in.

“5for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” – 1 Timothy 3:5 (ESV)

I did say earlier that I believe these qualifications should be for the followers of Christ and not just those who are in positions of leadership or caretaker. I really mean that. When we are in Christ, we are to be fully in Christ and where it starts with our relationship with Him, it extends to our relationship in our home. The relationship with our wife and household is to be one of stability and lacking chaos from the world view. As Paul writes in verse 5 above, how can there be calm in church when there is not calm in the personal life. As a Christian, I am called to have the calm in my personal life to have calm in the church.

Removing the chaos starts with the relationship with our wife. She is the other half of us. Remember that she has a role in the household and we are to honor her and love her only. We are one (half me and half her). There is no room for another, as Paul mentions in the qualification of each, overseer, deacon, and elder. The same is for us as followers of Christ. There is only room for her and no other. When there is another, there is division of loyalty and that adds to chaos in the home, remember we cannot have stability in the church if there is not stability in the home.

Love your wife and hold her dear. She is the other half of you and she is the representation of the calm in your home that you can carry into being a follower of Christ.

What is your home like? Is there chaos? What if you were to calm things by managing your household, starting with being the “husband of one wife”?

Wife’s Submission and Respect

This morning I continue my study of the word “wife”. I am led to Ephesians to the passage titled “Wives and Husbands”. As you look to the title of my writing, it appears that this is directed at the wife, yet the husband plays a vital role.

“22Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” – Ephesians 5:22-24 (ESV)

“33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” – Ephesians 5:33 (ESV)

Here we see Paul speaking to the role of the wife in the relationship. She is to submit to the husband as the church submits to Christ. The wife is to rely on the husband for love and care. She is to recognize and respect his authority in the house and relationship. The wife is to give herself to the husband fully in their marriage as we give ourselves to Christ.

But here is the thing, look to verse 23 above. Christ is the head of the church, yes, but also see that Christ sacrificed Himself for the Church. It is not just about the submission of the church to Christ, it is about Christ’s full devotion to the church to the point of sacrificial death. Husbands, we are to do the same. We are to sacrifice for our wives. She is relying on us for care and love and devotion as she is submitting to to us.

The relationship between a husband and wife is of oneness. Reliance on one another. The wife cares for the everyday needs of the home and the husband cares for the everyday needs of the wife. The wife recognizes and respects the authority of the husband and submits fully to that authority and the husband loves and sacrifices for the wife.

I can see how this passage would rub society the wrong way as it pushes for independence of the individual. But we have to see this as God intended. Yes, there is submission on the part of the wife to the husband, but I would argue that there is submission on the part of the husband to the wife as well. They are one and it is not about the wife being a doormat to the husband, but rather her being the wife of the husband. Likewise it is not about the husband lording over the wife in power and authority, but rather him being the sacrificial protector of the wife. There is submission and respect from the wife, and from the husband there is love and sacrifice.

How do you see the husband and wife relationship? Are you looking at it as a one way street of power and authority from the husband? What if you were to see both sides, submission and respect from the wife and love and sacrifice from the husband?

Sexual Relations With Your Wife

This is a subject that is maybe a bit controversial in some circles. It is right and just to have sexual relations with your wife. You are after all one flesh according to your marriage under God. You should therefor afford her with the physical relationship and not just a spiritual and emotional one.

“2But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.” – 1 Corinthians 7:2-3 (ESV)

There is no cause for the married to stray into the arms and/or bed of another on account of missing out on the physical sexual relationship in their marriage. Men, we should be actively offering and providing the sexual relationship to our wives and likewise them to us. This is the physical act of love demonstration. We should want and desire to be with our spouse and should be fully devoted to them.

“1Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: ‘It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.’” – 1 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV)

On the outside of marriage, there is no reason for man to have sexual relations with a woman. Yes, the verse above is a stated question or realization from the Corinthians to Paul on the subject, but he is clear in his subsequent verses that there is no cause for it and that the sanctity of the marriage bed is to be kept in tact. Men have sex with with their wives and no other.

In the end, it is right and just for husband and wife to have sexual relations in their marriage. It is good to have the physical relationship to demonstrate the love between one another in the bedroom.

What is your thoughts on sexual relations in marriage? Do you look for that physical relationship elsewhere as it is lacking in your own marital relationship? What if you were to love you wife to give to her not only spiritually and emotionally but physically as well?