Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Man Of The House

Standing at the kitchen sink washing last night's dishes...(I know, I should have done them before I went to bed), I began to recall something my husband said this morning.  He was telling me how amazing it was to just sit in the presence of the Lord and take communion. He said he spent time telling the Lord how grateful he was for all that God had done for us through Jesus.  My husband said it was as if a warm blanket of love wrapped around him.  Instantly, I could no longer heard his voice... my own thoughts took over, 'What's this?  You took communion without me?'  My feelings were hurt!  How could he have had this experience and exclude me?  BUMPER CAR flash back!

Yup, I was having a bumper car moment! Was I trying to hop into his bumper car? Or was this something I was supposed be joined with him in?  And, as Father began to soothe my ruffled, religious feathers, He shared something I had not thought of before, so I believe it came from Him.  The first question I asked myself is why this upset me so?  I was hurt because I wanted to be included in this beautiful experience. I had not realized until now I wanted my husband to share all things spiritual with me; I wanted him to be my spiritual leader.  I was supposed to be in that car with him.

What was so important about his sharing the things of God with me?  We can all have our own relationship with God, and we can each hear from God; anyone can experience Him without a human as a mediator, so what was the big deal?  Could the reason be because God set the man as the head of the woman? (I Cor 11:3)To cover her. Is the man the spiritual head of the house in the same way the pastor of a church is the head  of his assigned house? 

Just as each church has a set man of the house, the husband is the set man of the home.  The pastor of the church hears from God and gives what he hears to the people.  The pastor's role as spiritual leader does not give him the right to tell people how to run their lives, what house to buy, or what car to drive.  He hears from God and leads the people according the vision and the word God has given him.

But each person is responsible for their own relationship with God, however, the appointed man is the leader of the church in the things of God.  The pastor has oversight and responsibility for the spiritual growth of the church.  He prays for his people and counsels them, either personally, or by his designated representative.  He cares for their development, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and materially, but it is the individual who is ultimately decides to obey or disobey.  I think in like manner, the man is suppose to lead his family.

The home is a microcosm of the church.  God established the home before He gave birth to the church.  He created  Adam to take dominion and subdue the earth.  Adam's assigned task was to make earth like heaven.  When God brought Eve into the picture everything was finished. (Ref: Gen 2:21-23; I Tim 2:13)

When a man fulfills his role as the spiritual leader of the home, he is in agreement with God.  He truly covers his wife and family.  He is their intercessor and advocate before the Father.  Although I know my husband prays for me and takes responsibility for me, I want all that God has for us.  The word of God says we perish for a lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6) I don't want one thing God has for me to escape because I was ignorant of it. 

When Saul stepped out of his authority and offered a sacrifice because the prophet Samuel delayed in arriving, he was deeply reprimanded.  (I Sam 13:7-14)  It can be a challenge not to take matters into our own hands, but God has anointed and appointed as He pleases.  Our obligation is to cooperate with God's plan.  Sometimes it is easy to forget that God is Spirit and deals primarily with our spiritman.  Our spiritman is to have dominion over our soul and then the flesh must come in line. 

I certainly am not implying that women are not spiritual, nor that women do not hear from God.  Obviously, there are different situations and circumstances that complicate and compromise the ideal position a man might fill in the home, but it is not unreasonable to believe that the man, as God intended,  has a very important role as the spiritual leader in the home.  Whether he steps into it or not is a different story.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Unmerited, Unearned

I had been trying to wrap my head around the finished work of Jesus and the grace of God. The fact that nothing I do can increase or decrease what was already done was hard to comprehend.  Like so many Christians, I believed that if I did good things, good things would come,  and if I did bad things... well, you reap what you sow.  So, I made myself busy with doing good things and slipped into the "Believer's Rut", which is based on works and not on grace.

Don't get me wrong, we are supposed to do good things because we are God's children and imitators of our Father.  Our good deeds should be the result of the Spirit of God residing in and flowing out of us, rather than from our efforts of trying to be good.  We are good; Jesus said so in John 15: 3.  He said we are all clean because of the Word.  He said,"I am the true Vine, and My father is the Vine dresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."  It is not possible for a pine tree to produce an Oak tree, so the fruit the Spirit of God produces in us is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  The fruit of the tree is the evidence of the type of tree.  As for the perfecting part...that's the Holy Spirit's job not mine

I still could not get the idea that I did not have to do anything to earn my salvation except believe and receive it.   Romans 10: 9-10 says we are believe in our heart and confess with our mouth, the Lord Jesus and we shall be saved.  Some how we got the idea that we must confess our sins, but what Paul was saying is to agree with  God; confess that Jesus is the Son of God and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.  It's as simple as that! 

I was born into a military family and then I married a career military man.  Father used my life as the 'dependent' of a military person to teach me about the finished work of Jesus.  I came to realize that all of the benefits I enjoyed as a part of the military community were directly the result of someone else's commitment.  Some one else joined the military and suffered the pain of completing the requirements necessary to be fully qualified  and authorized to represent the US Armed Forces. 

That person also paid the price for me to have access to the benefits of that commitment and accomplishment.  The housing, the medical care, the commissary grocery store, the movie theater, all of the recreational facilities, even finances...everything came to me because someone was my sponsor.  That is a term used in the military when some one wants to know if you have the right to receive the benefits you are seeking.  They want to know who your sponsor is, what is the social security number of that sponsor, and do you have a military ID card to prove your claim.  Without a sponsor, you have no access to the benefits.

In that community, nothing I accomplish means anything to the powers that be, because I am not the one who made the commitment to serve.  I am a dependent of that one.  So, I can not earn or work for or pay for the privileges, I can only receive what has been provided because of the price someone else paid when they made the commitment.  The sponsor stands between you and the authorities of the military.  What ever you do right or wrong is a direct reflection on the sponsor.  If you get into trouble, the sponsor will generally have to pay the penalty for it.  If you write a bad check, the sponsor gets called into the commanding officer's office to be reprimanded and/or disciplined.  How wonderful is the love of the Father, that He would pay so dear a price for me!

For those who think I may have made this a bit too simple I say what the word says.  There is an ongoing work of sanctification and consecration, but that is not my task to perform.  My job is to yield to the Holy Spirit, cooperate with Him and He will perfect the work. I just need to be obedient.  That is the work I must do to prove my faith.

The Love of God

John 3:16 Ampl. For God so greatly loved  and  dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoeve...