Too Seriously!

Every morning I listen to my second favorite pastor. This morning he was preaching on the fact that Jesus is God and God can not approve or be around sin on any level. So when we speak of God's forgiveness and His ability to forget about our sin, it does not mean that we will get to avoid the consequences of that sin. Rodney, my favorite pastor, said something along these same line last night. I think that God is trying to bring home a point to me.

Acts 7:42

The Message (MSG)

42 “God wasn’t at all pleased; but he let them do it their way, worship every new god that came down the pike—and live with the consequences...

We as Christians sometimes think that we have a free ride with the freewill that God has given us. We can live out the humanness in ourselves, ask forgiveness, and then think that since God has forgiven us nothing will come of the actions we have done. So we talk about others, we judge others, we even lie, steal or do any number of things thinking that we are above the natural cause and effect of living on this earth. 

Not true!!! For every action there is a reaction. It is the Butterfly effect that Rodney preached about a couple of weeks ago. 


But even as I type this I am reminded that yes there are consequences for each sin but it is not up to us to worry about anyone except ourselves. We have gotten so off track lately with thinking about what is right and what is wrong, or who said what and who should be punished for what they said or did. 

TV stations, government and even Christians and Christian organizations have taken it upon themselves to be the judge of all.  We are choosing what is right or what is wrong, forgetting we have all sinned and done wrong and that there is no wrong that is greater than another. We have been commanded to love our neighbors. Not judge their actions. Just love them. This scripture from Micah says this very thing....


Micah 6:8
The Message (MSG)
8 But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.

I love the last line of this. "Don't take yourself too seriously-take God seriously." Let's stop making ourselves the judges for all and relax and let God take care of what needs taken care of.

As Christmas and the New Year approaches let's truly love everyone no matter what. Then peace could dominate this world and not hate. Our churches could be full, our neighborhoods could be safe, and we as Christians could really be living out the faith that we claim we have.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a very peaceful New Year!!


Blessings!

Love on the right side!

As I was sitting in the living room with my man last night it struck me how right things are for us. Rodney and I have a wonderful friendship where love, respect and an genuine caring about each other is a God given gift we share.

Now ladies  you might not agree with me, but I love being in the kind of relationship called for here in Ephesians....

Ephesians 5:21-28

The Message (MSG)

Relationships

²¹ Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

^22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

^25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage

I'm lucky because Rodney does love me like this. It makes living like this passage calls for, easy. Ladies it is freeing to be in this kind of relationship. Now I do have opinions and I do my own thing in the day to day of life. But I never pull away from Rodney and the things we have decided together.

Ladies our men can be very wise at times. God has given them a mind that sees things a little differently then we do. They can prioritize and separate feelings from decisions that need to be made, where as we mix things together and sometimes let our hearts rule, when it needs to be our heads.

 This is not always bad because sometimes our men need to be reminded of the soft side of life. God has given us the gift of discernment and our men need us to use that gift to help them when they are being too hard or even gullible.

See how this plan of God's comes together? He created us equal and He knew exactly how to make this husband and wife thing work. It is tough though when either one of us in our relationship forgets their role and wants to rule instead of love like Christ. And does not let God be in control of the marriage.

 I have to tell you that letting God be the leader in our relationship has gotten us through some pretty tough times. Such as a parting of ways with a business partner, which led to a tough financial situation. It would have been so easy at this time to blame one another and pull apart but instead we ended up stronger.

Another time was when Riley, our youngest was born premature and with Down syndrome.  We saw families in the NICU who had children in similar situations who's relationship couldn't take the pressure. Some babies were practically abandoned. My sweet husband was a rock and loved so deeply through the weeks of waiting. He got us through when others couldn't.

I'm not saying we never disagree but I am saying that with this kind of love we can make it through anything.

My hope for you ladies, is that you can be in this kind of relationship too. If not, find a way to help each other become all you two can be together. Prayer works! And if you can live for your man the way Ephesians 5: 22-24 says,  your example can show him how good life can be and will make him a better husband too!

Blessings!