We The Bride

When Jesus referred to Himself as the bridegroom, and His disciples as the bride, He established a pattern for us to follow. Paul describes it this way:

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 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." - Ephesians 5:25-27

What does that mean for us in today's world? Well, there are a few ideas right there in Paul's words. Jesus wants us sanctified, cleansed, spotless and holy.

Jesus already took care of the "spotless" part through His death on the cross for our sins, but we need to do the rest. We need to become sanctified. How? By the washing of water with God's Word. That means we not only need to read the Bible, but we also need to apply it to our lives. That process will make us holy and without blemish.

Have you placed your faith in Jesus? Do you read the Bible daily? As often as you wash yourself? Are you learning and growing in your faith? It's a constant process.

So many "Christians" believe that if they go to church and do good things, that's all they need, according to Ephesians 5:22

"Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord." - Ephesians 5:22

The key word there is "submit." That means we are to follow all of God's commands. All that Jesus said and did is our guidebook for navigating our way through this crazy world and making it to the wedding feast when Jesus returns for us, His bride.

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready." - Revelation 19:7

We need to be ready and waiting for Jesus to return, washing white by the reading and application of His Words. We also need to be undefiled by this world we live in. Satan runs this world and we are in it but we are not to become part of it.

We are to be holy (set apart).

"But while they (the unprepared virgins) were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut." - Matthew 25:10

Don't get locked out of the wedding feast. The location of your eternity depends on it.

The Men!!

Last weekend, when the men folk in my family were going out to play a round of disc golf, my grandson was invited to come along.

"Oh boy!!" my grandson shouted. "The men!!!"

He was excited to be included in with all of the tall boys in our family, perhaps thinking that by doing so that HE was an adult - at age 4 1/2. He was SO excited about coming along he kept repeating, "The men!!"

When we are children, we can't wait to grow up and become adults, largely because we can't wait to do what ever we want. Then, when we are finally old, it's just the opposite. We would gladly trade everything we have just to be young and energetic again.

Have you ever heard about a guy named Josiah? He was the king of Israel . . . when he was eight years old.

"22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left." - 2 Kings 22:1-2

Everybody grows old eventually. However, emotionally and spiritually, some people "never grow up" while others have to grow up before they are ready. It all depends on the circumstances.

God wants us to grow up to be mature Christians. He doesn't want us "drinking milk" our entire lives, but spiritual meat!

^"12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³ For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴ But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." - Hebrews 5:12-14

Did you go see The Shack movie? Why? Many say it's a wonderful Christian movie. It might be a good piece of fiction crafted into a warm and fuzzy movie but it confuses Christians and twists the truth of God's Word.

God wants us all to grow up and to be mature in our faith. We are to be eaters of spiritual meat, not candy disguised as Christianity.

I had a young adult ask me today how to recognize God's will in her life. The answer is easy. Read His Word and you will know it wen you see it.

Do you know how to recognize a counterfeit 20 dollar bill? Hold it up next to a REAL 20 and the false one stands out like a sore thumb.

We need to spend time reading the Bible. We need to memorize scripture so it will be in our minds when we need it. Follow the example of the Bereans in Acts 17. They were meat eaters, fully grown men and women, desiring to know the truth, desiring to be mature in their faith.

^"10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." - Acts 17:10-11

May God's Holy Spirit grow us in our faith, strengthening us, teaching us, until we no longer need to drink spiritual milk. May we be able to discern truth from lies and fact from fiction. In so doing we will be standing tall in God's eyes. Lord, help us be "the men!" And be "the women!" Help us grow tall and strong in your faith so we may honor you with our wisdom of what is right and our knowledge of what is true. May we bring glory to your name, not confusion. Amen.

Chariots of Frisbee - Aaron Mills

My Cup Runneth Over

Want to have some fun? There is something you can do to others that will immediately cause them to slow their pace. It will totally change someone's focus. It even has the power to shift the eyes of a teen away from their phone! Wow! What is it?

Fill their coffee cup right to the brim and have them walk across the living room carpet! Ha ha!

"5 My cup runneth over." - Psalm 23:5

Walking with an extremely full cup of hot coffee changes a lot of things. How we walk. Especially over white carpeting! It causes us to slow down. After all, we might spill hot coffee all over us, or the rug. Or both! That would be bad. I'm surprised the government hasn't required warning labels on all coffee cups! Even taking a sip of super-hot coffee causes us to be extra cautious and to take a tiny sip at first.

Hot coffee is HOT! Just ask McDonald's who lost a law suit because they didn't have a warning label on their cups telling people that their hot coffee was . . . hot. We humans can be really dumb. We need warning labels on just about everything we come in contact with. Remember the mirror on the Jeep in Jurassic Park? I rest my case.

It's too bad life doesn't come with warning labels.

What if people came with warning labels? Would you treat them any differently? What would YOUR warning label say?

"Warning: This person will break your heart one day."

"Danger: One more doughnut and the button on your pants will explode."

"Caution: What you are about to eat will make you spend the next 24 hours in the bathroom."

Mine would read, "Beware: Writer. This man enjoys boring other people with his stories. Can cause drowsiness."

Yeah. We never seem to know when life throws us those little curve balls that change our lives forever. Those sudden things that get our attention and make us wish we had done something earlier to change the outcome. Maybe I should have poured my coffee in a bigger cup . . . or not filled my cup so high. Maybe I should have invested more time in my children and told them I love them more often than I did so they wouldn't be on probation right now.

There is a book you can buy that is absolutely FILLED with life's warning labels - those little bits of advice to help you make it through this life. It's called The Bible. Here's a few warning labels that will change the way YOU walk in this world, with or without coffee in your hand.

"2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." - Romans 12:2

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." - Ephesians 5:6

"You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth." - Deuteronomy 6:14-15

Those are definitely some warnings to heed!

The thing about God I really like is that, despite all the warnings, God loves us. That is why He gives us warnings. Sadly, we often chose to ignore those warnings and . . . we end up staining our once-white carpeting. And only Jesus can get THAT stain out.

Woman Burned By McDonald's Coffee - The New York Times

Responsibility

Do you have one of those people in your life who just loves to talk? And I mean WAY too much? I do. Boy, that can be annoying! Especially when I want to get something done! At the worst possible moments his person just walks in and begins to talk, whether I want to or not. How do we politely get this person to stop talking and get back to what we're doing?

It's even annoying actually when this person who apparently needs to talk to survive, talks to someone else near me. Now, three people are being distracted instead of just two. Not only is the habitual talker keeping us from getting our stuff done but he/she is costing our company money by wasting everyone's time.

Boy, I tell you, the next time I have my performance review I'm going to tell my boss all about this guy . . . at least I was . . . until I read about Nehemiah this past week and discovered that I was the one in the wrong.

Taking care of our own responsibilities and not concerning ourselves with other people's character flaws is a lot like the Book of Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem that I found myself reading this week. Each household was responsible for their own portion of the wall. They didn't concern themselves with their neighbor's portion of the construction, they just took care of their own business, then with a like mindedness and a commonality of purpose, all the temple walls got rebuilt.

When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem were in need of repair he was greatly distressed. How could he himself repair them? The answer is, he couldn't. But with God's help, he encouraged others to rebuild a small portion of the wall, right in their own front yards.

"28 Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32 And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired." - Nehemiah 3:28-32

The entirety of the third chapter of Nehemiah is a a listing of all those who helped rebuild the walls, accomplishing together what they could not do individually.

Then I thought about my talker friend at work. He comes in at 3:30 in the morning each day so he can get his work done. And he doesn't really spend ALL day talking. Should I really be feeling that this guy is wasting time when his projects usually get finished on time despite his talking? And isn't it the responsibility of those being talked to to politely say, "I can't really talk now. I have to get my work done."

Then another Bible story came to mind.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.” - Matthew 20:1-16

There is a lot to learn in this life. Many of life's answers can be found right in the Bible. A good way to re-build our spiritual walls is by taking care of our responsibilities as Christians - worship, prayer, spending time in His Word, and serving others. We must examine our own "walls" and repair the cracks and gaps we may find before the whole wall comes tumbling down.

The wall of our faith gets attacked every day. Satan looks or gaps or a breaches our spiritual wall without stopping. How can we prepare for such an attack? Read, serve, worship and pray . . . and place your faith in Jesus Christ . . . the repairer of walls, the master builder . . . our intercessor

Intercession - Eric Ludy