Category: believer

For Men Only

Brothers,

I just want to encourage you to consider something. Specifically, your relationship with your wife. Whether you acknowledge it or not, she has been specifically given (assigned?) to you for a solid purpose. A couple of simple thoughts.

  1. You made a covenant before God and His people to love, serve and honor her– in sickness or health, for richer or poorer. This obligates you for the remainder of your life on earth.
  2. Your wife is a compliment to your self. She enhances and enriches you as a person. Your sins and flaws (I’m sure there is a few) are covered and protected by your “help-meet.” You’ve been ‘graced’ by her. (And you also bless her.)
  3. All other sisters, are forever off-limits. You are your wife’s exclusive partner. The ring you wear on your left hand must be a reminder of your status; it must ‘speak’ to you of this special covenant always.
  4. The girls that you dated before your wedding were special, but they were pretty much there to prepare (hone and polish) you, for your wife. You are a different person because of them. Don’t fantasize about how different life would be if you connected someway with ‘x’ or ‘y’ or ‘z.’ Don’t mess with reality.
  5. You are meant to serve your wife. The definite way you honor her is the solid way you serve the Lord God. When you pour out on her, you are pouring out on the Lord Himself.
  6. Never, ever compare your wife to anyone else. You are foolish if you do. She is ‘unlike’ anyone else.
  7. You must lead your wife, and family to the Lord. You are a priest of your home, completely responsible. You must be an intercessor for them, for they are in your care.
  8. God’s grace will meet you, and if you ask for it He will give it to you. All of this should overwhelm you, and if it doesn’t you don’t understand. The Holy Spirit knows all that you need, and He will guide you into the truth.
  9. Your children are there as a result of your love for your wife. They are looking to you for guidance. They depend on you at every turn.
  10. “Everyone sings the blues, and everyone plays the fool.” You will sin, and fall. There will be serious seasons of doubt, and confusion. There will be seasons when you are disoriented about your wife. But stay the course, and all will be well.

I do want to stress that to be a true and faithful husband will demand as much of God’s grace as it would take to pastor a “mega-church.” I surely would not advise you to do the ‘status-quo’ as a husband and father. You can do it, but I think you will regret it later.

As a husband (and father) means you are in the ministry, as much as a pastor, or church leader. You must be faithful and humble. What you do, or think affects far more people than you realize. I encourage you to discover other men who share this calling.

 

ybic, Bryan

 

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Something For You to Consider About Me

9″ And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Luke 18:9-14, KJV

ybic, Bryan

Olympic Sized Hearts

 Seven rules for running the Christian race.

  1. Run to win: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).
  2. Observe strict discipline: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training… I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).
  3. Don’t look back: “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
  4. Get constant encouragement: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us…run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
  5. Throw off restraints: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
  6. Discount pain: “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:22-24).
  7. Don’t let up until you cross the line: “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).                                                 Jim Elliff
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Blessed?

 

“Blessed … Blessed … Blessed … Blessed …”

Matthew 5:3-10

Extract all the blessings from Scripture, and you would be left with very little.  Remove the promises and it would become a poison to the souls of men.  We are in such a feeble state that we would be desperate for anything that would ease our pain.  Being crushed on the wheels of life without any hope is a grim prospect.

That is why He gives us the promises and blessings embedded in the Bible.  They are like diamonds in the clay, which must be released in order to make them ours.  The blessings of the Word await those desperate enough to abandon lethargy and to dig.  One time a treasure chest was buried in a field, and a poor man who knew went and sold everything.  He scraped all he had and purchased that property to gain access to the wealth within.

Some will never make the effort.  The blessings of scripture are never gripped and seized with any real alacrity or desperation.  Those vital promises swirl by their hearts, but are never comprehended.  They are so close to glory, but they will not reach for it.  The issue is not with the Bible, it is the folly and darkness of the human heart.

Having God’s blessing is a state of grace that elevates us to reality.  If you are “poor in spirit”. or if you mourn, you are in that state of blessed truth.  You might say that the Beatitudes are keys that will open the doors of truth.  They are not optional, we must receive them and the richness they give us.

There are those who will harden their heart.  That is a given.  They have a calloused mind and a stiff neck.  But the promises and blessings of God continue to call out, but if they are spurned they will become the property of a more receptive and eager heart.

 

ybic, Bryan

 

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