Weekly Devotions

Seeing Marriage Clearly

 
Seeing Marriage Clearly | Ephesians 5:22-32

As Paul was in prison, he wrote a letter to the Church of Ephesus, encouraging the believers to function as the living body of Christ here on earth. He wrote to encourage women, children, and slaves to submit to the head of the family. In this letter, he counseled all believers to submit to one another by choice. This kind of mutual submission secures harmonious order in the family while increasing love and respect among family members. Today’s passage is specific to marriage where submitting to and serving one another is paralleled to Christ and His church.

Marriage is a union that some people view as a romantic fusion of souls and bodies, an opportunity to spend the rest of their life with their best friend. Yet others may view it as a responsibility or a chore where they have lost all freedom. Our culture has done a good job of devaluing the true meaning and purpose of marriage. God’s design for marriage is so much richer and deeper than any of these perspectives. God designed marriage to be sacred, a word that seems foreign to our society today. The marital bond between a man and woman creates an ideal environment for growth, maturing, and lessons in holiness. Failing to recognize God’s plan for marriage, however, can lead to a deep brokenness where pain, frustration, self-centeredness, and even loneliness can manifest. God created us for relationship with Himself and others. What makes marriage unique is that it showcases God’s desire for a covenant and a deep intimate relationship between Him and us.

In Ephesians 5:25 we read :
“ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her …”

When we as a husbands, wives, family and the church are willing to serve and sacrifice for each other like Christ did for us, we will witness changed lives. Christ set the example, gave us the command and empowered us to be the Church by serving and sacrificing for one another as He did for us. 

How will you follow Christ model by serving and sacrificing for others this week?

Googling God

Googling for God

We are in a fallen world.  Isn’t that a normal response and constant for those of us who are raised in and regularly attend church.   As time passes and we get more and more comfortable in church, the less we see this.  We become more insulated from the fallen world.  We are surrounded by Christians, we hang out with Christians, and we see the world through a tinted glass.  We have to purposely step out of those norms to experience the lost and fallen world. 

Can you relate?  Are we so comfortable in our world, that we fail to see the lost and fallen world all around us?  Who do we interact with regularly?   There is safety and comfort in being surrounded by like minded people.  We are herd people.  Quickly, we find ourselves in the herd and not looking around. 

I would like to tell you about a telephone call I received.  A lady called the church and wanted to be baptized.  I realized she was not an attendee of our church and certainly not a member of a church.  She did not know what baptism is, how its done, or how to get baptized, but she felt compelled to be baptized.  My wife and I arranged to meet her.  I was truly blessed to be part of what God was doing in this lady’s life. 

As we talked about Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, salvation, baptism, God’s love for us, and on and on and on…. our eyes filled with tears.  I could see the cloud of confusion leave the lady.  She understood and believed what was being shared and supported in scripture.  I asked if she had ever confessed her sin, asked for forgiveness and accepted HIS free gift.  She said yes.  Armed with the information from our conversation and a portion of her story, I asked how she knew what needed to happen.  She said she “looked it up” and had prayed two days prior.  “Looked it up”  “Looked it up”…..really?  God pursued her, showed her love, and called her to Him.  Googled God, I hadn’t heard that before.  I thank God, He led her to call Glen Meadows. 

The lost and fallen world is around us.  There are people seeking Him.  Some of those people know no one that can lead them to Him.  How impersonal is a Google search?  What information is out there - good or bad?  We have to be alert and looking for opportunities to share His love.  We have to be His witness and be available to be the personal Google search that points to God.  When someone interacts or sees us, our lives should draw them to “click here for more information/download.”  If they are “searching” your life, will they be drawn to the TRUTH?  Are you Googling the lives around you to share the Truth?  It starts with a simple “search” that can result in a whole new world/Kingdom.     

Act 1:8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.