Sunday, January 31, 2016

Love & Respect

Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:33)

Recently I've been wondering where has the disconnect occurred where wives believe it is okay to demand unconditional love yet are content to pass out conditional respect to their husband.

That is NOT okay. Nor is it in alignment with God's Words.

We are exhorted to respect our husbands. It is not respect that is dependent upon an action or lack thereof. We are also exhorted to respect our husbands because it does not come natural to us. 
In Genesis 3:16 God tells Eve: "Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 


There's a book called Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. I think any wife who struggles to respect her husband unconditionally needs to read this book AND apply it. Especially if you sense there is trouble in your marriage or you sense a lack of intimacy (not just sexual). This is huge because majority of men would rather have your respect than your love. They are not programmed to see love as the end all be all. They are not programmed to love regardless to how you talk to them and how you act towards them. YET that is what we, as wives, expect from them. 

We expect them to love us on our most unlovable days. YET in the same breath we will make it so clear that if their behavior is not respectable then we have no respect for them nor will we treat them with respect. Even being so bold as to say it to their face but then wonder why he treats us unlovingly. THAT is NOT how marriage works.

And as long as we proceed with the thought that respect is NOT as important as love then we will fail to thrive in marriage. We will be mediocre and barely surviving. We will wonder why our men prefer to hang with his guys than us. We will wonder what was the allure of the female that he cheated with. (Yes, THAT is a very likely possibility!!!) 

Stop being selfish in your thought of conditional respect with unconditional love. 

Come under the authority of the bible and SUBMIT. Respect your husband as you would respect Jesus Christ!

Monday, January 11, 2016

The Case for Grace

Through out the years we've learned that grace and mercy is the saving grace of the Christian.
It is the traits of God that grants us forgiveness. 
Yet in recent years it seems grace has been almost over used and under valued. 

I mean that to say everyone preaches the message of grace and mercy to the sinner, that it renews each day. Yet they forget to include the disclaimer that grace and mercy is not an OK to sin thinking "Well God will have grace and mercy and forgive me." 

It is important to remember this because God judges the heart. He sees all of what we think we're doing and judges our motives. So if we do not grasp grace and mercy in its fullness. Then we could very easily lose its covering. God is not a man that He would be made a fool of.

Grace and mercy is all in Jesus bearing the sins of all mankind on the cross.
Grace and mercy is all in Jesus' resurrection.

Grace and mercy is what kept Jesus on the path to crucifixion.


What is is NOT is: 
a license to sin.

What it DOES DO:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

The above passage in Titus, shows us that the grace of God brings salvation. It teaches us to deny ungodliness & worldly lusts. It exhorts us to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Notice it says in the present age, meaning it is ever applicable. Grace enables us to seek out Jesus Christ to be redeemed and purified by Him.

So today, look for the grace of God in your life and be thankful for it. Know that as God graces you each day, that we must confess our sins. We are born sinners and will remain that way until we leave this earth and as such must ask for forgiveness of the sins we commit and in that we are repenting which is not only asking for forgiveness but also turning AWAY from the sin. That is making the conscious effort to repeat.


~Kris

Thursday, January 7, 2016

The James Code

Hands down, one of the most applicable books in the bible? James.
Yet, because of the strength of the content, it is often hard to actually DO.
And therein comes the James Code by O.S. Hawkins. The same man behind the Jesus Code.


This book is set up like a weekly devotional with one verse a week. I enjoy it because the weekly devotional is usually about a few days long and provokes much thought and can literally be studied on a weekly basis to help us actually be doers of the word and not merely hearers.

James warns us of hearing the Word of God and knowing that there is action that needs to take place but not actually taking action. That is what the difference is between those who are disciples of Jesus and those who merely followed Him. When it was time to act and do and be like Jesus they had an excuse or they simply turned back; "it's too hard" was probably a common retort. 

So we have to remember to not only believe in Jesus but to put action with our faith. Even the insane, the devil sincerely believes in something and will try to explain it to you. They will even act on those beliefs. So how much MORE should we do it, when we believe in the risen King, Jesus Christ. We NEED put our faith in action.

The Word says, we are known by our actions, not by what we think or say. People pay closer attention to what you DO versus what you SAY.

And THAT is why this book is fundamental and absolutely welcomed and recommended to those who want to be more than a fan of Jesus but a committed disciple of His.




{FYI: I received this book thru the BookLookBlogger program. They send me a book & I give my honest opinion.}

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