Hypocrisy – Satan's Food for the Weeds

As the Holy Spirit continues to give me wisdom and knowledge, what He is making clear is satan's damaging effects of hypocrisy among believers. With our mouths we say one thing, but with our actions we say something completely contrary. If we say, with our mouth, we love Jesus and believe all He has done for us, but then we lie, cheat, steal, and promote doctrines which are contrary to His doctrine, this is hypocrisy.

Webster's definition of a hypocrite is this:

1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

2: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

In God's Words hypocrisy is defined as well: 1 John 2:4 - If someone claims, "I know God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.”

As true followers of Christ, we must recognize this is the war which was predicted in Revelations 12:17 (NLT) – And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children – all who keep God's commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus.

As Godly and astute students of God's Word, you understand that in this Scripture the children are God's church or His people. And as intelligent men and women of God, you also know that very few churches today work to keep all of God's commandments. But God wants to bring all His lost sheep back into the fold. What is our part? As His disciples, how do we help God with this task?

Satan has been very successful at corrupting and confusing the minds of Christ's followers – making them believe that a shallow, idolatrous relationship with Christ is acceptable. This belief started with the Roman Catholic church in 311 AD, when, for political reasons, Constantine made friends with the followers of Christ. This corruption was predicted in prophesy:

Daniel 7:25 (NLT) – He will defy the Most High and oppress the holy people of the Most High. He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time.

Revelations 13:5-7 (NLT) - Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty two months. And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling – that is, those who dwell in heaven. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.

Instead of teaching that we must be victorious over our sinful nature in order to be protected by the blood of the Lamb; we are teaching that we are loved and forgiven of our sinfulness and our works and behavior do not matter. Instead of teaching that we have a corrupt heart which we inherited from our father, Adam, causing us to be blind to our selfishness and hatefulness, and the only way to heal it is to obtain a deep understanding of God's Word through daily seeking and devotion; we are teaching hypocrisy that says - because Jesus died for our sins, salvation happens instantaneously and it is free and can not be lost, and all that is needed is to say the words - “I believe in Jesus.” This thinking is so foolish! Even satan believes in Jesus!

James 2:17-24 (NLT)- So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.  Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds." You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.  How foolish!  Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

Here are some of the hypocrisies satan is using in our churches to deceive the foolish:

1. Teaching that all Christians are sinners – Think about what the outcome of a bull ride would be, if sitting at the gate you already knew you would get thrown before the eight second bell rang. By thinking this way, we are defeating ourselves. This is exactly the reason God said we were made holy by Christ's blood – to get our minds right. Satan wants to us to believe this, because if we believe we are saved from our sinfulness due to our belief in Christ, he will no longer have power over us. We certainly have all sinned and fall short of God's glory, but as believers in Christ, our sins were nailed to the cross and now sin has no power over us, because Christ heals us of our sinful nature when His Holy Spirit comes to reside in us. It is satan's voice which calls a Christian a sinner, not God's. We must learn to hear the difference in what God says to us and what satan says to us! This does not mean that we won't suffer because of our nature tempting us. This does not mean that we won't struggle at times. But when we believe that God can heal us of your sin, when we humble ourselves like a like a little child and beg to be healed of our sinfulness, we will be healed. This is what believing is. Those who hold onto their sin will be destroyed with it. God does not want it to be this way. He wants us all to be saved. But when we hold on to our sin with all our might and refuse to let Him heal us, we leave Him no choice. He promised us that all evil will be destroyed, and He never breaks a promise. We must make a choice whether we want to be destroyed with the sin or whether we want to live for eternity with our Savior. It is totally our choice and God is patiently waiting for each of us to turn to Him and away from the sin which He will eventually destroy. (1 Peter 1:15, Gal 5:16, Romans 6, Hebrews 10:26, Rev 3:5, Rev 21:8, Romans 2:12, Exodus 32:33)

2. Teaching that all Christians doubt God – Again, by thinking this way we are defeating ourselves. Satan has created doubt since the very beginning, with the original sin, and he is still creating doubt today. But we must recognize that doubt is the opposite of belief, so if you doubt, you are not saved. Again, we must develop the ability to be able to distinguish between satan's voice and God's. If it is not Biblical, it is not God's voice. Sin will make us blind and deaf from God's Truth and His voice. That is the void or separation sin creates. Only the deep study and understanding of His word will heal this effect of sin. Fear and doubt are destroyers of God's will for us, in the same way they destroyed the children of Israel - preventing them from entering the promised land. We do not want to be foolish like those who refuse to believe God and His promises! If we decide to be rebellious unbelievers like these children of Israel were, we will not enter into the promised land either. (Genesis 3, Romans 10, Numbers 13:31, Numbers 14:34-35)

3. Avoiding teaching the law (character) of God – Satan does not want us to know God, so he invented a lie telling Christians that this part of God's Word is no longer relevant due to the new covenant with Christ. He also does not want us to understand the condition of our own hearts, because he wants to prevent us from completely understanding our evil nature – inherit due to our Father, Adam. If we don't understand our sin, we are still blind to it and can not repent and be forgiven. When we truly seek God, we will find Him. However, if satan is teaching in our churches that this part of God's Word is no longer important, due to the new covenant, then people are being taught NOT to seek Him. Jesus taught us to be persistent. If our teachers are teaching contrary to this, they are leading the flock away from the only one with the power to heal them and they will face very serious consequences for this action. If we do not dig deep into the law of God to understand the things which displease Him, we will never truly understand the sin in the deepest regions of our hearts. Our mouths can lie, but our hearts can not. God looks at our hearts and our behaviors that reveal our heart's condition. He does not care about our words. Our words are the surface and they are shallow. God cares about what is deep inside us. In Deuteronomy 32:47, God said these instructions are not empty words – they are your very life! We should not take God's Word lightly. If He says these instructions are our life, that is what He means. He does not change His mind. However, as we teach this part of God's Word, it must be made clear that we do not worship the law, we worship Christ; but that we must study these Scriptures on the law so we can learn - who we are, how we were designed to live, and who God is. When God's Spirit resides inside us, we are freed from the law – because we are living by His Spirit and His Spirit cleanses us from our sinful nature. (Luke 11, 1 Th 5:17, Deuteronomy 32:47, Romans 6, Gal 5:16-25)

4. Teaching that some things in the Bible are Truth, but not all – This is how satan keeps his hypocrisies alive. He teaches the parts about God's love, but not the parts about God's wrath and punishment for disobedience. Important Scriptures like these are removed and never discussed:

• Names will be removed from the Book of Life (Rev 3:5)

• You will be judged by the law (James 2:12)

• If you do not keep God's laws, He does not know you (Matthew 7:21-23)

• When you love Jesus, you obey His commandments (John 15:10)

1. Having bylaws, missions or any doctrine not 100% focused on teaching God's Word and growing and developing disciples – As the Roman Catholic church taught us, these bylaws, missions and doctrines lead to idolatry. If the bylaws, missions or doctrines are preventing growth and development of disciples in the church, they are idolatrous. The mission of the church must always be to develop disciples for Christ, just as He taught us to do. (Matthew 28:19-20)

2. Church spending is a clear indication of idolatry/hypocrisy. If there is more money spent no buildings, salaries, and hobbies than there is on educating and creating disciples, feeding the poor, and true Gospel missionary work - then God is not being made the number one priority. Pastors and leaders tend to get caught up in the church they love and lose focus on the real reason they are there – to develop disciples for Christ. We must remember that God does not need a building or an arena. All He needs is willing and obedient children who love Him and want to do His work. This is exactly the problem in the Roman Catholic church. When we make are focus about our buildings, arenas and any tangible objects, it causes us to lose focus on God. If we want to be the true church of God, we must keep our priorities in line with God's priorities. God clearly gives prophesy about what His last-day church looks: (Romans 10:15, Rev 14:6-12)

• Making disciples and teaching them to obey (Matt 28:19-20)

• Fearing God and giving Him glory (Rev 14:7)

• Will not worship the beast or wear his mark (Rev 14:9)

1. The inability to be humble is another clear indication of idolatry/hypocrisy - We must remember that God, the creator of the universe and everything in it, humbled himself and came down here to this earth to walk in the dirt and be tempted by satan and the flesh. We should try to wrap our minds around this and truly take in what God did for us here and why He did it. If God can make Himself humble in order to save us, can't we also humble ourselves to save each other? This is what He was teaching us to do, by coming here to save us. We are supposed to live by His example. We need to recognize that having the inability to humble ourselves is a result of having a Pharisee heart, not a Godly heart. God always picks the most unlikely candidate to bring forth His message. He will not pick someone full of pride. He will pick them based on the condition of their hearts and their willingness to be obedient. This was proven many times in the Bible - when He anoints David, the smallest and weakest of the sons of Jesse; when He impregnates the virgin Mary, the barren Elizabeth and Sarah; and even when He picks the 100 year old Abraham. (1 Samuel 16, Genesis 17, Luke 1-2)

2. Once saved always saved - The logic satan uses here is that Jesus' blood washes you clean, so now, no matter how much you sin, you are covered. All you are required to do is ask for forgiveness. This is such a great lie from satan! When you believe this, it makes sinning acceptable and repentance meaningless. There is no place in the Bible where it says you can continue living a sinful life, because of what Jesus did for you. As a matter of fact, it says quite the contrary – if you do not keep God's commandments, you are a liar, and God hates liars more than He hates murders, because lies destroy more of His people than murder does. Revelations 21:8 says “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars – their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” God's Word clearly states that only those who have overcome sin will enter into His glory. We must remember that all sin is equally bad, and breaking one is just as bad as breaking all of them. Exodus 32:31-33 clearly tells us that those who accept Christ, but later turn back to sin will have their names removed from the Book of Life. Satan wants you to believe this lie, but a wise man will look to the Word of God and put their trust there. We must look inside ourselves and examine whether our hearts are like Adam's or Abraham's. There will be no sin or rebellion in Heaven. Adam's curse was to be expelled from paradise. We do not want that to happen to anyone! (Exodus 32:31-33, Ezekiel 18:24, 1 John 2:4, 1 Peter 1:15, Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 19:17, Revelations 21:8)

A Spirit filled person will have an incredibly difficult time attending a church where hypocrisy and idolatry exists. So, what happens in this situation is the words (or the hypocrisies of the teachings) will be feeding the weeds instead of the wheat (Matthew 13:24). All the good wheat will die out or ultimately leave the church, and satan will be left standing at the altar preaching God's Word – falsely – and everyone will believe him, because they are ignorant and foolish.

So, my question to the Godly leaders is – how do we effectively go to war against this evil corrupting our brothers and sisters? I see this as the greatest task we have ahead of us. As disciples for Christ, God is calling us to unite and go to war against satan and his army. This is how we show love to our fellow man, woman and child. This is how we risk our lives for Christ.

This is incredibly important for the children. They learn to build their foundations to reflect the spiritual leadership at home. We must love the children enough to build their foundations solidly – on Christ. We must fight against satan's foundation of hypocrisy, which will not hold up in a storm. We must make father's understand that foundation building based on hypocrisy is not leading the children to heaven. So, not only is a foundation built on hypocrisy teaching the children in a way which is certain to cause them great suffering here on earth, but it will also prevent them from having eternal life. If we are creating a foundation based on hypocrisy for our children, we are certainly not loving them. Loving them means leading them to heaven!

What I say here in this letter reflects the love Jesus indicated in Matthew 22:36-40 (NLT) - Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”

Much love and God's blessings to all! Amen!

God's Voice or Satan's

When a pastor or Sunday School teacher speaks to a group of believers or non-believers, they should always ensure they are speaking with God's voice, instead of satan's. But unfortunately, that is not always the case. Here are some examples:

1) “We are all sinners.”

Is that God's voice or satan's? Let's go to scripture to see what God's voice sounds like and what satan's sounds like:

Genesis 1:26 (NLT)- Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our own image to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

1 John 3:8-9 (NTL) – But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them.

The correct statement is: We have all sinned and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). However, because Jesus died for our sins and sent His Holy Spirit to live in us, we are called to be saints (1 Peter 1:15).

2) “All Christians doubt God.”

This is not the voice of God. Satan is what makes us doubt. Satan lies to us and does not want us to know God's power or authority. Keeping us confused and foolish is satan's greatest trick.

Genesis 3:4-5 (NLT) - “You won't die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Doubt is the opposite of belief. If you doubt God, you do not believe in Him. The correct statement would be: All Christians doubt their own understanding of God's will in their lives.

3) “The Old Testament is no longer relevant since we have the new covenant with Christ.”

This is the greatest lie satan has told. Christians will never understand who God is or how messed up their hearts are if they don't study every word of the Bible from cover to cover and know it is Truth. Many times over Jesus says that we must keep the commandments.

John 14:15-17, Jesus says, “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

The scripture above shows us that there are some prerequisites to receiving God's Holy Spirit – 1) love, 2) obey His commandments. This is so critically important! We will not be able to see the Truth, if we do not have God's Spirit living in us. It is not possible. We will not be able to keep the commandments, if God's Spirit is not living in us. Without God's Spirit, we will die.

4) “The parable for persistence in Luke 11 is a contrast, not a comparison.”

This is certainly satan's voice. What Jesus is teaching in Luke 11 is how to pray. Persistence in prayer is mentioned many times. Here are a few:

• Luke 18:1- Jesus told His disciples a story to show they should always pray and never give up

• Luke 18:6 - “So don't you think God will give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night?”

• 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - “pray without ceasing”

• Colossians 4:2 “ continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving”

Jesus, in His own praying, was persistent. When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times (Matthew 26:40-44).

In my very short walk with my glorious savior, I have found that Christians are just as lost as anyone else. This is due to satan being such an expert at deception in our churches. It is more difficult for Christians to hear the Truth, because they have been taught that they are saved and they don't really need to be obedient. The mistake here is that obedience follows love. If we are puffed up with pride, thinking we know the Truth, but leading people with satan's words; then the truth is we are no different than the Pharisees who crucified Jesus. Pride makes our hearts hard. Our hearts must remain humble and childlike to receive God's Holy Spirit. When we have God's Holy Spirit, the Truth becomes obvious, because He gives it to us.

This is a controversial topic and one that is extremely important. In Romans Paul does a beautiful job explaining to the Romans what it means to be a Christian. In Romans 10:9 he says that all that is required is that you confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. But what does it mean to believe in your heart?

Is having the knowledge of the historical facts the same thing as believing? No, it certainly is not. If having all the knowledge and facts of truth does not change you into a creature who wants nothing more than to please God, because of His pure character; if having the knowledge and facts of truth does not make you fall to your knees in humble admiration of our LORD, realizing how disparately you need Him; and if having these facts does not create a desire in you to be more like Him, then it is not believing, it is just knowing. When you truly believe, the Holy Spirit transforms you.

When our minds and hearts are transformed by the Holy Spirit, we "put on Christ." Paul describes this dramatic change in our hearts and minds as Jesus Christ living within us. We "put off the old man with his deeds" and "put on the new man." We are "renewed" in knowledge and in the spirit of our minds.

"You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24).

There are many Christians who are not setting good examples. They say they believe, but they have not changed into the new creature. This is obvious by their hatefulness, selfishness and disrespect toward others. This is why Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love the LORD with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength; and the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. One acid test you can do for yourself to help you understand if you heart is like Jesus' is to reflect inward and ask yourself if you are following these two commandments. Is God first in all that you do? Do you have love in your heart for even your enemies?

The second acid test you should do to help you understand if you are truly saved, is to ask yourself if you believe that God has the power to heal you from your sinfulness. Christians easily get that God can heal cancer, but struggle with believing that He also has the power to heal them from their sin. This is what believing in Christ is about. Here is how you know that to be true. Every time Jesus healed someone He told them to stop sinning. Would Jesus tell people to do something if it were impossible? No, of course not! But it is impossible if you do not believe.

God gave us forgiveness before Jesus came. Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister, but he was still allowed to go to heaven. David committed murder and adultery, but was still allowed into heaven. So, Jesus didn't just come so we could be forgiven, He also came so we could believe. He came so we would have what we needed to fulfill the scriptures where we are called to be holy and perfect like our Father (1 Peter 1:13-16, Matthew 5:48).

Now, I would like to spend some time talking about why this is difficult to understand. Theologians call this the hiddenness of God. God chooses to reveal Himself to us when are hearts are in the right place, which is when we are willing to allow Him to have the authority in our lives. He does not allow us to see because we are wise. He does not allow us to see because we keep His laws. He allows us to see, when we give Him authority. He allows us to see when we are humble and childlike.

John 7:17 “Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.”

Luke 10:21-24 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “Oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.

“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal him.”

Then they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. I tell you many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but the didn't see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn't hear it.”

Psalm 145:18-20 The LORD is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear Him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. The LORD protects all those who love him, but He destroys the wicked.

Jeremiah 29:13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

God chooses to open our eyes when our hearts are fixed on Him and His will in our lives. If we are still relying on ourselves and still consider that we are the authority, we will not be able to see God or truly believe in Him.

So, how do we learn to believe? How do we make our hearts childlike, so we are able to see God? The first step is to submit to God. Submission almost always precedes the knowledge of God, because He will not reveal Himself to you until you want to know Him for Him. God will not reveal Himself to you, if you are only coming to Him because you need something from Him. When you want to know God for God, because you love Him more than anything else, because you understand His power and authority in your life, it is that moment when He will open your eyes and allow you to see.

 

Seeing Through God's Lens

A beautiful young girl stood in front of a full length mirror, looking at her reflection. She stood approximately 5'4.5” tall and had a slim, toned build, weighing about 80 lbs. However, this is not what she saw when she looked at her reflection. Through her lens, she saw someone who was fat and ugly and she was certain there was no boy who could ever love her, because of how she looked.

What is going on here? This was the beautiful singer, Karen Carpenter. If you don't know who that is, do a YouTube search on the song We've Only Just Begun. Karen died because she had an eating disorder called Anorexia. Karen's lens did not see correctly. It had become distorted, causing her to view herself as fat. So, she stopped eating and eventually she died.

Our lens gets messed up because of the world we live in and all the sin around us. Children who experience the horrible act of being raped or molested, especially have this problem. Their view of who they are becomes completely destroyed by this act of evil. They grow up and learn to use alcohol or drugs to escape the horrible pain of who they are and what they have become. They try to escape their reality, because of how destructive this sin is to their spirit.

Women who are being abused by their husbands, go back to them again and again and continue to take beatings, which send them to the emergency room. In their minds hey don't believe they deserve any better. This hostile environment is their definition of love.

A little girl age 18 months, is molested by her babysitter. She has no recollection of this act, but she grows up and begins to cut her arms. She feels she has a demon inside her and she cuts herself to release it. She feels nothing, so she cuts herself because pain is better than feeling nothing.

A 16 year old girl has her virginity taken away by a man much older than her. She said no, but she was not strong enough to get away. He was a friend, she thought. She thought he really liked her and wanted to love her, but he only wanted to take her virtue and then discard her like a piece of trash. This little girl grows up wanting nothing more than to feel loved by a man. She makes horrible choices each time she decides to make a relationship commitment. She sees the man's character flaws, but makes exceptions and excuses for them, because she feels she deserves nothing that is good.

This is how destructive sin is to us. All sin is destructive like this, but I'm using the clear examples in order for you to see and understand. Sin always replicates itself. For the little girl who was raped, sin replicated to her and told her how guilty she was for letting it happen. The guilt festered and grew. She threw away years of her life doing drugs and dancing in a topless bar, because she didn't think she deserved any better.

Satan uses these opportunities to confuse us and distort how we see ourselves and the world. It is only when we view ourselves and each other through the clear lens of the Gospel that we begin to see clearly. If we do not understand God's Word, this is an impossible task.

So, here it is. What the Gospel of Christ is all about is this: God loved us so much that he sent His only son to die on a cross as justification or payment for our sins. God released His mighty wrath on Jesus, instead of those who deserved it - us. This is a picture of God's grace. We deserved the punishment, but He sent a substitute to stand in our place. Now, because of Jesus, we have the option to be forgiven and to live for eternity with our Father. This is a free gift, offered from our Father. All we need to do is believe and receive it.

There is no other religion like Christianity. All the others focus on what you DO. Christianity focuses on what was DONE for you. All other religions focus on a man who was wise and lived by good morals and character and then died. Christianity is God humbling himself enough to come down to earth and walk in the dirt along side of us to experience our suffering and temptations and then die on a cross receiving our punishment, so we could be saved. But the best part is that in three days, He rose from the dead, just as the prophecies had predicted nearly a thousand years before Christ's birth.

When you truly understand how much God loves you and all that He has done to save you, you can start to view yourself through His lens instead of you own. When this happens, you start to see the truth about who you are in Christ. The depression begins to vanish. The worry calms. The pills for sleep and anxiety are no longer needed. When you view yourself in the mirror, you see a beautiful and loving soul, who may not be perfect, but sure wants to be. When you look at others, you are no longer judgmental and hateful, focused only on their faults; instead, you are now loving toward toward them, because now you see their beauty despite their sin.

You begin to crave an understanding for who Jesus is and how He designed us to live. You act on this craving by seeking wisdom through God's Word. You begin to understand God's laws for our lives and you take steps to be obedient, because you love Him. You work to put God first in all that you do, because you understand that not putting Him first opens the door to all other sinful behavior. God begins to bless you greatly because of you love for Him and you find that the peace and love inside you feels so wonderful that you must tell everyone you know and love about this wonderful gift of Jesus.

The greatest gift is not just to be loved, but to be known and loved. This is what we all seek and it is what God seeks as well.

 

God's Design For Marriage

Marriage is a parable for our relationship with God. Your earthly spouse is to symbolize your relationship with your heavenly spouse – Jesus. When we enter into a marriage and make promises to love, honor and obey our spouse, we are also making these promises to God. God designed marriage a very specific way and it must follow His design in order to keep love alive.

In preparation for this marriage, God's design is that you wait and keep (or make) yourselves pure. This purity is not just your sexual purity, but your sexual purity is to symbolize purity of our mind, body and spirit.

This is where folks get a bit messed up. Father's teach their children to stay virgins, because they recall their own sexual promiscuity and they are mortified by the thought that a boy might do to their child what they did to girls when they were young. But this is the wrong foundation to use. When we focus on our own sins and use them as the teaching motivation, from the beginning of this teaching we are using a lens that is blurred and unclear due to sin. This creates lessons which are not clear to our children either. When fathers teach using this foundation, children will learn that keeping their virginity makes them better than other girls their age and their hearts get messed up. When this happens it creates children who may keep themselves sexually pure, but in doing so will look down at girls who are struggling with their identity, feeling unloved and making up for it by giving pieces of themselves away little by little to every boy who shows them attention.

We must use the parable of Christ as our bride to teach our children, instead our own foundation and sin. If we do this, we are preparing them properly by using the foundation of who they are in Christ and how He designed marriage.

The first two years of marriage will be the most difficult, because this is a time when the couple will experience what is called “breaking the backbone of selfishness”. During this time, God will teach the wife to let the husband be the leader and to trust God to sort it out when the husband's leadership is not Godly. A woman's natural tendency is to fix or take care of her family. This can get in the way of the husband being the leader in the family. What the wife needs to understand is that once she objects and gives her very logical argument, she must then let her husband make the decision for the family. This is what the Bible is teaching the wife when God tells the woman to submit to the leadership of her husband. Rest assured wives, when your husband makes a choice that is not Godly, God will deal with him. You role, however, is to lift up your husband and make him feel like a king by serving him in a very Godly way.

Husbands, God teaches that you are to honor your wife and to love her like Jesus loved the Church. Dishonoring your wife is the same thing as dishonoring God. If there is something in your live that is causing you to dishonor your wife, you should follow that like it is smoke from a fire. When you dishonor your wife, your prayers will not be heard (1 Peter 3:7), because as you dishonor your wife you also dishonor God. You must listen to her and care about her concerns. God created her differently from how her created you. She is more intuitive and more emotional, so she sees things differently. The best decisions will be made together as husband and wife. If you are not able to come to an agreement, it is your responsibility as the leader to make the decision for the family. You must rely on God to help you make these decisions. You must pray about them with your wife. Trust God to lead you, not each other. As the leader of the family it is your role to be the spiritual leader as well. You must be seeking understanding of God and His will for your lives. You must be doing this through the study of His Word.

When disagreements arise, you must never go to bed angry. Together you must look to God to fix your hearts and remove the anger and replace it with renewed love for each other. Work hard to serve each other. Men require respect and women require love. Do your best to fulfill the needs of your spouse on a daily basis.

I love making my husband feel like a king. One thing I do, which creates this uplifting feeling for him, is to rub his feet when he comes home from work in the evenings. I also make sure he understands daily that I am his servant. That does not mean that I am not his equal, because that is clear in 1 Peter 3:7. We should all practice serving each other, because that is what we are called to do by our Father in Heaven.