YOUR HOROSCOPE

Before I became a Christian, I would regularly check my horoscope to see what a given day in my life might bring. Sometimes, it seemed as if it would even be correct. But the fact was, as I figured it out, I could have written down a list of generalities and predicted them myself. I had no idea what God thought about what I was doing, nor did I know what I was dabbling in, until I became a Christian and began to study the Word of God for myself. Men and Women have longed to know their futures since the beginning of time. From the Old Testament to the New Testament there are examples of people evoking mediums and soothsayers in hopes to find out important information that they believe will help them and give them hope. While God’s Word tells mankind to place their hope only in Him, we know that throughout the ages, men oftentimes seek after other gods, in hopes that they will get the answers that they want. When one god fails them they move on to find new ones. The Bible strongly condemns spiritism, mediums, soothsayers and any form of the occult. It gives strong warning against seeking psychics, or even dabbling in horoscopes, tarot cards, astrology, palm readings, fortune tellers, séances or any other form of witchcraft, in order to predict their futures. These practices are based on the concept that there are different types of gods, spirits, or deceased loved ones that can give advice and guidance. While they are very real, these channels are demonic false gods that give false hope, and are demonic spirits that masquerade as messengers of kindness, truth and hope according to 2 Corinthians 11:14-15. In Acts 16, the Bible tells of a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination who Paul and Silas met. She had brought her masters much profit by her fortunetelling. The girl followed them around for many days shouting out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation”. Paul became so troubled with her that he turned to her and said to the spirit in her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And at that very moment the evil spirit came out and when her owners saw that their hope of making money off of her was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. They later were arrested, beaten and thrown into prison for delivering a slave girl from the evil bondage that possessed and controlled her. Satan and his army of demons will always pretend to be kind and helpful to those that he sees as gullible and ignorant of the Truth. While he tries to appear as something good, his ultimate goal is the same as with the slave girl, to entrap his victims and hold them captive in hopes that through his deception they will not turn to the truth because they are deceived into thinking that they already have the truth. As for how soothsayers and mediums get their information, the scripture teaches that satan and his band of evil demons give their psychics or channels, information about a person in order to get that person hooked into spiritism; something that God forbids. It appears innocent at first, but soon people can find themselves addicted to psychics and in the end, unwittingly allow satan to control and destroy their hopes, dreams and very life. Some people cannot start their day until they know what their horoscope warns against or predicts for them. Peter proclaimed, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” in 1 Peter 5:8. In some cases, the psychics themselves are deceived, not knowing the true source of the information they receive. Whatever the case and wherever the source of the information, nothing connected to spiritism, witchcraft, or astrology is a godly means of discovering information. God’s plan for how we are to discern His will for our life is simple, powerful and effective. It is simply to study the Bible according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and to pray for wisdom in the things that are unknown to them, James 1:5.

It is a proven fact that there have been many exposures of psychics as frauds. It has also been proven that psychics can gain tremendous amounts of information on someone through an ordinary means. However, it is undeniable that some psychics or mediums sometime knows things that may be impossible for them to know and it is true that they get this information from another source. But you should also know and be very aware that their source according to the Bible is from satan and demons and if you claim the name of Christ, then be very aware that you will be held responsible for leading others down the wrong road if you are perusing it yourself or encouraging others to take part in them. For their end, the Bible predicts will be what their actions deserve according to 2 Corinthians 11:15. For Isaiah 8:19-20 says to the child of God, “When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” While there are many scripture references warning us to stay away and to have no part in them, I would share these few and pray that they shed light on any darkness that you are in concerning them. They are found in Leviticus 19:31 – Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 20:6 – As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. Leviticus 20:27 – Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their blood guiltiness is upon them.” Det. 18:10-12 warns that these things are detestable practices and God hates them and anyone who does them is detestable before God. In I Samuel 28 we find a distraught and bereaved King grasping for answers because he had refused the truth from God and God’s prophet prior to his current situation. At that point God was no longer speaking to Saul. Out of fear from his enemy the Philistine army, Saul hoped that he could gain help through another source, which was the witch of Endor. Because he had expelled all the mediums and spiritist from the land and none of them were around or would trust him, he disguised himself and consulted her to bring back the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel. Having no idea that he was the King, she began her conjuring up the spirit of Samuel, God in the meantime was about to take Saul to the woodshed….the old witch was so horrified from what she was seeing, knowing that it was not of her powers or spells, she screamed and told Saul that he had deceived her. She was seeing something that only God is able to reveal… For while Saul and the witch may imply an authentic appearance of the dead, it is very clear that it was not a result from her witchcraft, for she herself was horrified and scared by what she saw. Instead, it was God’s final means of bringing a word to a king who insisted on going his own way to get an answer apart from God. Saul sought answers the wrong way and in the end, got the same results. He lost the battle and he died.

The story of Saul seeking the help of a medium also revealed who ultimately has control over even the demons and hell itself. Everything else is only counterfeit to what God can do. Another story in scripture concerning communicating with the dead is the story about Lazarus the beggar. He was a poor man who was featured in one of the parables that Jesus told about in Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus, a diseased beggar, laid at a rich man’s door, longing for scraps from the rich man’s table. The beggar died and was carried by the angels to heaven. The rich man also died, and his soul went into hell. There, in torment he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham. He begged Abraham for pity to have Lazarus come and dip his finger in water to cool his tongue because of his agony in the fire. But Abraham said to him, son remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is being comforted and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a ‘great chasm” separating us, and anyone wanting to come to you from here is stopped at its edge and cannot cross over, and no one over where you are can cross to us. He responded to Abraham by asking him to please send Lazarus to warn his family so that they would not come to hell, surely he said, if someone from the dead would go to them they would listen and repent. Abraham told him that if they did not respond to the prophets that brought them the truth then nothing would change their hearts to believe. These were men that had already died and had become part of eternity. Like Saul seeking the answers that he wanted, he found that in the end, it was too late. He had already been warned by the very man or prophet that he was seeking to have conjured up. The rich man found himself in the same situation, because he too had had the opportunity to believe the prophets concerning God’s will for his life. He simply opted to reject it. God clearly gives us an example in the scriptures that once life is over, it is over, no coming back. Unless it is ordained of God to do so, for His good will and purpose; but  it is not something that is allowed and that we are to seek, I can assure you! So while people that are living may think that they are speaking to their deceased loved one or some other deceased person, they are in reality speaking to demons that are counterfeiting or masquerading as messengers of kindness, truth and hope. God’s Word tells us that the devil himself roams the earth seeking whom he may devour. Be aware and stay away from the things that will draw you to him. My heart’s desire  in this devotion is to point out the warnings that are in scripture,  that tell us to stay away, avoid and not to tempt our God by running after other gods. There is only one true God, He is the Alpha and Omega, the Begging and the End ….anything or anyone else is simply a counterfeit of Him and His truth; and should not be trusted. Study the Word of God for yourself, and know the Truth….for one day, you will have to answer for it!

Loving on you,                                                                                                                                                                               Bren

ME & MY PRINCE

Hearts, kisses, hugs, chocolate and flowers. On February 14th, people of all ages will put forth their best efforts to show or prove their love for someone by giving these mementos to signify their affections. Children will give and receive candy and valentines to each other at school while teenagers will dream of their Prince Charming’s and Cinderella’s. Adults will show their affections to one another with cards, candies, special gifts, dinners out and may even indulge in weekend get a ways. For those senior adults that can, a simple card or dinner will be the highlight of their holiday. But in the end, it’s all about LOVE!

When I think about love, I can’t help but think of the first couple that ever experienced it. They knew it best! While Adam and Eve are best known for making the single worst mistake ever made in human history, they were still the first couple ever made for each other in the literal and spiritual sense of the meaning “couple”. God made Eve especially for Adam. She was made from him and for him. Their relationship was God’s handiwork and despite the whole fruit issue, they created quite a life for themselves together.

Just like most love stories, theirs fell upon hard times and disappointments. They had it all and lost it all. They blamed one another for their problems, their children fought, some even unto death. They had to work for every little thing they ever got and often times, even lost that because of wrong choices and the repercussions from those wrong choices. When we want love stories to dream about, we would be much better off looking to reality instead of fables to build our hopes and dreams on.

In my own love story, I must tell you that I have never rode in a pumpkin carriage and while I often refer to my husband as a prince, I can assure you he has never once trotted over to me on a white horse to save me from any situation that life has dumped on me. Be it from my own fault or something that I had not brought on myself. I never once let him try and climb on my hair to get to the top of anything. If he ever drank from my shoe, he never told me about it, and I’m glad! We opted not to build our house out of cards, but on a much stronger foundation, the Lord. I have however, turned some old sour lemons into a sweet thirst quenching lemonade, made a quilt from some old scraps and followed along in Adam and Eve’s example having both positive and negative outcomes, just as they did.

For my prince and I, there are times that we both bicker with one another. He tells me I can’t spend money. I try to find another way. He often times will not get to the projects that I want him to do, because he is too busy doing things that he feels is more important. He does not dance with me like they do in fairytales (I do that with the Lord on some Sunday mornings) nor, does he awake me in mornings to breakfast in bed. He snores and will deny it. I nag and he ignores me. He plants the garden in the opposite direction that I would. But while we both are far from perfect, we love each other perfectly. God created marriage in His perfect manner, in His perfect way as only He can do. God tells us in 1 John 4:12, “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” So even though Adam and Eve were the epitome of imperfection, even though Adam probably failed to do some of things that Eve had ask of him and Eve more than likely forgot to wash his leaf underwear every now and then, their imperfection was made perfect in their love for one another. No matter how flawed they were, their marriage was created in perfect love because the One who created it dwelt within the midst of them and became a lifeline form them in times of their troubles. The picture of love that Christ showed us while he was on earth is perfect. Love in its simplest form according to Christ is obedience. Christ was obedient to the Father and became the ultimate sacrifice, a greater example of love does not exist.

Don’t stress over living up to the fairytale that you remember as a child and built your hopes around. Because when you do that, in the end you will find that you can never reach those expectations and you are left empty and disappointed. We live in a fallen world and the things that happen to you should only lead you to the One that loves you the most and can help. Your love story, no matter how simple or how elaborate, was designed by God. He perfected it. He wrote it. He even illustrated it and signed his name on your copy. He’s the author and the finisher according to Hebrews 12:2. We are unhappy only when, we veer off and do things that are not in His plans, for our life’s story. Happily ever after doesn’t have to come with ball gowns, pumpkin carriages and white horses. Most of the time, it will come with worn out jeans, stained blouses and old junky cars that are constantly being worked on, sick children, wayward teen agers and many, many mistakes and disappointments. However, that is just fine, because if it is allowed by God to touch our lives, it’s perfect and nothing less. So the next time you are faced with difficulties and hard times in your life, ask yourself this question. “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”. Job 2:10

Loving on you today!
Bren

NOT GOOD ENOUGH

No one is immune from adversity, hardship or attacks from our enemy the devil, who may come in any form of discouragement to us. But no matter the severity of our adversity that may be passing through our lives, the Lord is available to be our shield and the elevator of our downcast emotions and disappointments. I have always felt a kinship to those who feel that the road they are on, is not taking them where they were planning or wanting to go. Especially when people in their lives try and beat them down to where their worth does not match up with their own expectations, which leaves them with a sense of “not being good enough” in one way or another.

If today sweet friend you are feeling that way, let me encourage you by saying this; don’t ever let someone take away your happiness by what they say or think, because it was never theirs to take, unless you give it to them. And never, ever let yourself live in the past, because then you’ll miss out on what God has in store for your future! Hang in there, because He is working on your behalf and is going to blow you away with what He has planned for you! Shake the dusty feelings off and look ahead to your future for God has something great in store and it’s got your name on it! You can praise God, that He, is the lifter of your head even when you are downcast and depressed. For He is your liberator from those emotions and feelings. At a time of great despair, distress, discouragement and danger, David praised God with these words, “But You, O Lord, art a shield for me. My glory and the lifter of my head.” Psalms 3:3-5. So must you do the same thing!

Praise God that He can and will elevate you above your worries, fears and short sightedness from the things that are happening around you that you do not understand. He alone has the power to work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. I am so grateful for God giving us the example that He did in the life of David. For David knew as much as anyone could ever know what it was like to be downcast, depressed, despondent and dejected. Yet he too had to learn as you and I do, where to run when we allow ourselves to be blind sighted and wallow in self-pity, becoming so preoccupied with ourselves and our gloomy situations that we allow the devil to slip in unaware and steal from us what God is wanting to give us. God has no intentions in giving us things or relationships other than first, we know Him and find our contentment in Him alone. Psalm 43:5 “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again…my Savior and my God!

David experienced deliverance from his depression and disappointments when he did the following things. He first got alone with God, then he was very frank, when he admitted that he was downcast. He then ask God to show him the reason for the emotional rollercoaster ride that he was on, when he ask, why? Why am I like this? Declare today that you are going to move out of this funk that you are in and put your hope in God, not in yourself nor in others. We look for visions from heaven and for earth-shaking events to see God’s power and working in our lives and often times fail to see, that one of the most amazing revelations of God, comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that He is speaking to us. God not only builds mountains but He also created the valleys too….for His good purpose and our benefit! Embrace your situation and learn from God what He is trying to show you through them, never doubt for a moment that you are not good enough. Place your worth in Him and never allow others to place a price on it. He is not absent when he is silent in your life. Be patient! You may have to do as David did when he was downcast, find a cave, get alone with God and run to him!

Loving on you today!
Bren

YOUR UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST

Many of us have a mental conception of what a Christian should be. We often times look at the saints of God and see failure and it causes us to either stumble in our faith or use their mistakes as human excuses to fail.

Let’s look at it this way; God sets the standard we are to follow, those that fail, we are to look upon as simple detours to mistakes and examples of making choices apart from God’s will. The New Testament encourages us that when we have fallen and have been restored, to go and restore those that are falling….

The only purpose that you and I have in this life as a child God, is to know Him! The very thing that you are looking for is God. The difficulties and trials, the casting about in our minds as to what we shall do this summer or tomorrow, all vanish away when we look to God. The simple fact of the matter is that, we have forgotten how to look to Him.

Now rouse yourself up and look to God. Do your utmost to build your hope on him. Seek Him in His Word and prayer…and do not give up. Beat your body and make it your slave; and do that thing which you know you should. Take your eyes off the problem, no matter if you have a hundred things that are pressing you, resolutely exclude them all and look to Him, and the moment you do, you will not be disappointed.

I love you and am praying for you today!
Bren

Physicians Who Pray With Their Patients

Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. James 5:13 Our physicians interact with us during some of the most important moments of our lives. They start at our birth, they tend us throughout our lives and often times are even at our deathbeds. Every one of these events are bursting with spiritual significance, and yet most of us are afraid to talk about any spiritual concerns that may involve our physical health care with our physicians, much less they with us. In many cases it may be out of fear that such conversations would be inappropriate or maybe cause offense, even though many patients desire to discuss these matters with their physicians. Some physicians appear to be afraid of this topic because they themselves are not spiritually minded or that they worry that it will be misunderstood and may cross an ethical line with their patients somehow and so they too will avoid the subject. Some people may say that they do not want a physician who is concerned for their spiritual welfare and wellbeing as long as they take care of their physical needs. But come time to pass from this world into the next, everything changes. All of sudden, they will take any spiritual advice and concerns or prayers that they can get from anyone. While we want, hope and even pray for our physicians to be confident in our healthcare decisions, many of us are grateful for those rare physicians who pray with their patients and family members over those decisions, which in turn puts a certain sense of comfort in us, while other physicians may leave us with a feeling of dread and lack of confidence in them because they do not have the knack to humanize the spiritual with the scientific. Most people want more than physicians just giving us information, we want to know that they truly have our backs and may even go beyond the normal to put us at ease, even if it means to go a little out of their comfort zones to comfort us.

It only makes sense to me that our physical healing and coping psychologically with our illnesses may be compromised, if we are experiencing spiritual distress in them. While we may be seeking our peace from God, it is not up to us to say how He may bring it about. Sometimes when my heart is heavy over a matter, a precious friend only need to say, “I’m praying for you today” and peace covers over the anxiety that seems to trouble me. God never intended for us to be alone. We are a needy people, we need God foremost and we need those that believe in God and understand that they themselves are a limited and finite people; that regardless of their knowledge and standing in and of this world, there is still a Higher authority and power over us all. I am convinced that prayer is one of the best kept secrets in medicine and if for no other reason, to give us comfort and help as we bring our prayers to troubled people. While Hospital Chaplains can fulfill a crucial role in many health care settings, I can assure you from a personal standpoint that not even having a Chaplain pray over you can compare to having the hands that are about to cut into your body pray over you before he places his surgical knife on you. Physicians humanize medicine, when they infuse it with a compassionate quality that answers our inner spiritual needs as well as the needs of our physical bodies. I have had a number of physicians in my lifetime, but only one stands high above all the others, and it is because he prayed over me before he started any medical procedure on me. This morning, my granddaughter had surgery and while it was somewhat of a simply procedure because of her heart issues her parents had deeper concerns. When their physician spoke with them about their concerns, he laid his hand on our granddaughter and prayed for himself, the child and the parents. While not everyone may have share the same feelings as I do about the spiritual and the physical, I for one say to our physicians that do pray over us and our friends and loved ones, a huge thank you and God Bless you for it!

Loving on you today!
Bren

THE ROLE OF CHILDREN

God’s Word tells children to obey their parents Eph. 6:1-4. And while they may not feel like they hold a very prestigious position in the family, the scriptures tell us that they are a heritage and gift from God. They assist in helping parents in their own chain of accountability and responsibilities as leaders in the home. Satan’s goal in the family is to divide it; for he knows that if he can break down the family unit he stands a stronger chance of control over those children. Children will learn more from their parents by their deeds than their creeds.

The best example a parent can give their children is a godly example of how they should live by their own deeds and lifestyle. Not tell them one thing and do another. Parenting is never about “do as I say and not as I do”, that is the root to so very many problems in our homes today. Parents telling their children what they expect from them but not holding themselves responsible for those same standards. God uses our children daily to teach us about our own relationships to Him. He is the Father, we are the children. His Word is simple….if we love Him, we will obey him. If your children love you, they will obey you. If they are not obeying you, then your focus needs to be on how to restore that love. Sometimes even good children stray from what they know. But even in that, we still have His word to remind us that, if we will train our children by our own examples in a godly manner in the way that they are to go according to the will of God…that while they are growing older, they will not depart from it.

THE ROLE OF A WOMAN

Genesis 2:21-24, “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Woman was not taken from man’s head to lord over him, nor from his heel to be crushed by him, but this she was taken from his rib or side, near his heart, so she could be loved and protected by him. The Lord chose to compare a family with the Holy Trinity. In so doing, He called the head of the family, the father or man, after God’s own name and person, and by process of elimination, the mother or woman represented the Holy Spirit of God within the family. Her job is different from that of the father. She comforts, teaches instructs and leads. You see it is the Holy Spirit that leads and guides us into truth and into the presence of the living God. The attitude and presence of a godly mother can do that same thing. For she leads her family by her actions, her gentle and forgiving spirit, her compassion and hard work. She behaves by pointing others to God instead of herself. Think of all the things that the Holy Spirit does and that is exactly what her responsibilities are in the family. She is often the unseen one. The one who gives the others attention and her desires are to honor her family. She can even determine the spirit and the atmosphere of any place she may go. Adam desired a communion with a kindred soul, one whose wants and joys were like his own, that of which the gentle kindness and compassion of the animals around him could not provide. While Adam worked hard in the garden before Eve came, he worked even harder after she got there. Eve’s job was to assist him and be his helpmate.

While the role of the woman is not over her husband, she does have authority in her home to rule and govern. While it is oftentimes a very difficult task, it is a most worthy one. Titus 2 teaches that a women is to be revered in the way she lives, by loving her husband, being self-controlled, not to slander or be addicted to wine and be the keeper of her home and that she should teach it to other mothers. That job entails meeting the needs of her family and while both parents share in that responsibility, the mother is the guardian of the home. It is her spirit that determines or sets the mood for the home. I like to call her the Cheerleader of the home. Her job is to build up her family while viewing her submission, “as unto the Lord”. When women understand and view their submission to be submitting to God and not an unruly, un-caring, or un-concerned mate, then, they are able to bear their submission and not be so bitter nor hard.

A verse that has always guided me in my own quest in submission is found in 1 Peter 2:13…it says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority…”, When we begin to view everything from the point of obedience to God, our perspective changes and falls into place with God’s perspective and our very lives are touched and changed by our mere obedience to what God says that we should do.

A wife is responsible for both the physical and emotional needs of her husband. She loves him because he first loves her and gives himself for her. When he fails to do that, she is still responsible to God as to how she responds to a husband who is not properly leading his family. She is to win her husband the same way the husband is to win his wife, through love, a gentle spirit and the way that they walk in Christ.

THE ROLE OF A MAN

Gen 2 Now God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed…God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

God’s Word teaches that His Word is the final authority in all matters. All creation will answer to Him as to how they responded to their positions in the chain of command that He designed for the Church, Government and Family. His design of the family is liken to that of the Church, in their relationship to Him.

There must be a head or leader in the chain of command and God chose the earthly father for that responsibility. While he is the Chief in Command, he also is commanded to be the provider, protector and a humble servant. He is commanded to rule over his family in love and gentleness, remembering that the wife is the weaker vessel emotionally and physically and that he should not provoke his children, by being too harsh. When things go wrong, in the end, it will be the earthly father that will be held responsible. He will have to answer for everyone that God has placed under his authority. This is not a job that is to be taken lightly, nor is it a position that any should covet. For it is a position that will demand much more accountability than any other. If this position is misused or disrespected, pity the person who will be judge for doing so.

If a wife is rebellious, while she will answer to God for her actions, the husband too will answer for what he did not do to help her overcome her rebellion through his wisdom and love. If his children are rebellious or wayward, he will also answer for what he did not do in correcting them and loving them in the way that he was commanded to in the Scriptures.

The family looks to the father for leadership, security, direction and love. According to Eph 5:25-33 the father’s sole purpose is to establish an atmosphere of love. For he is to his family as Christ is to the Church in his chain of command. His leadership must be prompted by love. I Peter 3:7 emphasizes that the husband is to lead his family in knowledge, honor, and spiritual leadership. Properly put….Love Given equals Love Received.

When a man does not properly love his wife the way that he is commanded in scripture, you will more than likely see an attitude of criticism, indifference, unkindness, disapproval and lack of affection on the part of the husband. The natural response of the wife will be to nag, defy, and ultimately be bitter, because she is not receiving the proper nourishment from her husband that God commands him to provide.

Often times people will place blame on the wife for not being the godly wife of Proverbs and say that if she would simply stop nagging the husband he would be a better husband….that is very true, he might! However, the Biblical chain of authority holds the husband responsible first….he is to be Christ to his wife….the wife holds the role of the Church. His role to her is to be the relationship of counsel. I Peter 3:7 instructs him to dwell with her according to knowledge and one of her basic needs in life is direction. Eph 5:27 carriers this thought of problem solving to the responsibility of the husband. Many of her problems will derive from needing proper direction in an area. If he is providing it properly it will alleviate many a problem. If a husband is not utilizing his role as a prayer warrior for his family he will have many, many troubles. Family Battles are won on their knees!

When a man sees his role as God does and understands his part in the family chain and if he is sold out to his role, there is nothing that he cannot accomplish in his home, because he will have done it God’s way.

FAMILY MATTERS

God was so good by giving Adam a help mate, equal in every way. Yet, after they fell into sin, they both lost their original positions as they knew it. He would have to work the rest of his life by the sweat of his brow to feed his family and her husband would rule over her because of her sin. In Gen. 3 they suffered many other things because of their wrong decision, but learning to live within the chain of command that they found themselves in after the fall, would prove to be a hard lesson for not only them, but for all generations to come. While God punished them both for their wrongdoing, He also gave them a plan of survival to enjoy some comfort and have as much peace as possible in their home and lives if they would follow it. Through the ages men and women have struggled with their positions and their responsibilities within the framework of the family and home. The reason that there is a struggle to begin with is because sin entered the world and touched Adam and Eve’s life and changed their natural state from what it was meant to be to what it had to be after the fall. Men and women are still struggling over God’s decision because they were not created to hold the position that they now hold. So in having happiness in their lives as well as their home, each person must understand their new role and learn to live in it. Peace will only come to the individual that struggles with their role when they understand it better, seeing it as God does and submit to it as God’s authority and not mans, setting their mind and heart to be the best that they can be in their role, doing their part in the family chain.

Be sure to read the 3 follow up post on this one:

The Role Of A Man

The Role Of A Woman

The Role Of Children

YOUR PRAYER LIFE – HOW’S THAT GOING?

Do you ever find yourself struggling over what you feel like is unanswered prayer? Most of us have gone through discouraging and perhaps puzzling episodes of unanswered prayer. Typically we begin the Christian life very optimistic about the possibilities of prayer; then we have some disappointing experiences with prayer and skepticism sets in. Few experiences pose a greater challenge to our faith. Maybe you had committed yourself to pray frequently and earnestly that God would do a certain thing for you, and because by what seemed to be unanswered prayer, you felt like He never answered it at all or either, He answered it in a way that you were not happy with. Maybe you even questioned as to if God even heard your prayer or not!

My own confidence or conviction that God answers prayer springs not only from biblical teaching but from personal experience as well. But it has taken time for that conviction to grow into a strong and abiding one; and while I still stumble around in the waiting part of prayer, I am confident that God will answer my prayers according to what is best for everybody and every situation involved.

It’s not that God refuses to grant His children their request, nor does He not hear them, but that He simply understands the outcome better than we do. Appreciating this can do wonders in keeping us from losing heart when our prayers seem to go unheeded. It is very clear in the scripture that if we ask, it will be given to us according to His will, and if we are asking it in His will then we will not struggle over the answers to our prayers. But we are sure to struggle every time, when we ask in amiss. God’s Word also teaches us to seek and we will find. What that means is that we are to seek and search for God in our situation, in our prayer request. Many times too often we state our prayer request and move on. But oh dear friend, we must learn to do more than that in many of our prayer concerns. We need to learn to knock and when we do, God will open Himself up to us and show us His love and will in those request to sustain us in whatever the answer may be; and that sustaining love ends up being our fervent answer over anything that we take to Him in prayer.

There are different types of prayer request that require different types or ways in approaching the Lord on their behalf. Some types of prayer require a simple request for example, “Lord, help me to be like you”. That prayer is a given, why? Because we know that according to his Word that that prayer request complies with His will. Meaning , He has already told us in His Word, clear and simple “be ye Holy, even as I am Holy”. So there is therefore nothing else that has to be said on the subject. However, the tougher prayers are when we are praying our wills to become His will and His word does not have a specific passage that we can go to that may pertain to our request. That is when we find ourselves seeking Him and searching for Him, knocking on His door, and that simply means that we will do anything to get into His presences over our situation, because we do not have a clear word of understanding concering His will in those type of prayers. When we comply with doing things His way, He will open a door that allows us to except even when we do not understand. He will purify our hearts and satisfy our pain and lack of understanding and assures us that all is well, so just sit tight, ’til He brings it about. He is in control and knows the situation better than we do. It is at that point that we can know if we are praying in accordance to His will or not! Because, if we walk away fretful and without peace, then we have not severed those strings that will keep us captive and weakens our faith and it is then that we realize that we are unwilling to yield our way into His in our request.

Jesus prayed in the garden before His death, ”Father if it be possible to take this cup from me”, but in the end Jesus proclaimed His Father’s will be done and not His own. How else could He bear what He had to bear except through coming to terms with the will of God! It was the coming to terms and submitting to those terms that provided Jesus the power to go through and endure whatever God’s answer was to be. He sought God in that Garden. He knocked on the door that stood before the Lord and when He entered in, He and the Father supped together and Jesus left that garden with the peace that He ultimately was seeking from the Father, and that peace only comes through surrendering  wills to the God!
 

“…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availed much.” James 5:16b. This verse has zeal in it or feet you might say. It’s going places and seeing things happen! Many times we grope for an explanation to our experiences of unanswered prayer and we attribute the problem to lack of faith we say, ” We just didn’t believe strongly enough ” and sometimes, this can be a problem. Yet even our motives can be the culprit of unanswered prayer, as James 4:3 reminds us to pray in Jesus’ name and when we do, it simply means to pray with a desire for his will and glory. A quote from Andrew Murray says this about prayer, “the thrust of the biblical promises, is that God limits much of what He does on earth, to what His people are bold enough to request through prayer.” We are to pray and to keep on praying, especially when hard times come our way and burdens seem too hard to bear. It is through continuing prayer that our desires become clear to us. Some grow stronger while others fade away and in the end we are grateful that God did not grant to us what we had ask.

Jesus told the parable that we might “always pray and not lose heart” Luke 18:1. Clearly He was saying, that we shouldn’t give up praying about specific personal concerns, no matter how long it takes to receive an answer or what that answer may be. If we hang in there, we will discover that God is more abundantly willing to grant our petitions than we had imagined. But we must do it His way and by doing it His way, we are granted the peace to endure the answer, whatever it may be!

Imagine if we never had to seek out an answer! If that were the case then we would never know God on the level that He calls us to know Him on, if we did not seek Him out as the precious treasure that He is. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” You see He makes it all worthwhile, if through our faith, we do it His way! Develop your prayer life by seeking, searching and knocking!

Loving you and praying for you today!
Bren