Showing posts with label Relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Relationships. Show all posts

Don't look to no one else to give you what God can and will Genesis 30:1-2

Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!” 2 And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” Genesis 30:1-2

Rachael expresses the sentiments that some of us may feel at one time or another. The thing that we want so badly that we feel will make us complete but we don't have. For some it may be a child as in Rachael's case, or a loving husband or wife, your own business or a good-paying job, a mansion on a hill etc. We each have a burning desire to attain or have something that we want. What if we felt like a person was in the position or had the power to give you that thing and they wouldn't or couldn't. Wouldn't you be angry at them? Wouldn't you sound desperate when relaying how you felt? In Rachael's case, she told her husband to give her children or she would die. That is the cry of a desperate woman, a woman who filled with envy, is sorrowful and even heartbroken that she can't give her husband a child. Imagine

Can two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Amos 3:3



Amos 3:3 "Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?"

Our Lord Almighty had a relationship with the people of Israel from the beginning when He brought them out of Egypt. He had selected the Israelites as His chosen people. However, time after time, they disobeyed Him. God would continuously send prophets to remind them of His undying love for them and to call them to repentance.

Here we see God speaking through the prophet Amos to let the people of Israel know that He is going to punish them for their iniquities. And what God says is that two cannot walk together unless they are in agreement.

The Lord was referring to His relationship with His people. They had strayed far away from Him and therefore they were no longer in agreement with Him. From the beginning, this agreement had been established through the commandments. However, over time that relationship was severed.

It's interesting that Jesus often referred to His relationship to the church as a bride and a groom because even before the church had been established, God modeled that relationship between a bride and groom with His people. When two people get married,

If we love one another, God abides in us 1 John 4:12



No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 1 John 4:12

How do we know that God abides in us? We know when we truly love one another and show each other love using Him as a prime example. We have not seen God but we have seen His love therefore through showing us what love is we can show others love as well. It will be perfected in us or be complete when it is genuine and true.
Brothers and sisters, let's truly learn to love each other so that God may abide in us. Let us each day strive to make our temples (our hearts, soul, mind and body) more hospitable for Him to live in. The only way we can do this is by doing what His word says.

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If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. -Psalms 66:18


If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. -Psalms 66:18

    How do we have God answer our prayers? Well stated in this Psalm, one way is to make sure our hearts are pure, making sure we are not harboring sin in our hearts. 
    The Lord wants us to live a holy life, one where from the inside out our lives are in accordance to His word. Yes, we will make mistakes but it's the getting up, learning from sins and being convicted of those sins that are what's important. Everything about us has to be pure so that when we come to the Lord in prayer, He will hear our cries. 
     The rewards of the righteous and holy are laid out in scripture. Let us strive to bring our lives in accordance with God's word daily.

May God continue to strengthen you in your daily walk with Him. God bless you.

Matthew 5 - Love Your Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,[h] 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren[i] only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors[j] do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48

Oh how easy it is to love those who love you and hate those who hate you. It just seems logical don't it? But Jesus didn't come to preach what was logical or the "in" thing to do. In fact he made reference to what we have been conditioned to think and refuted the thought and gave us another way of living. There is often a struggle between what we have been conditioned to think (those things that we see as being right) and what

Matthew 5 - Marriage is sacred and binding

Right after speaking about Adultery, Jesus' next topic, surprisingly, deals with marriage and this is what he has to say in his sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:31-32:
31 “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
I can't think of marriage without thinking about my parents. They didn't believe in divorce, for better or worst they stuck it out even when they said they would leave, they stayed together. As children, my brothers, sister and I growing up, we got to see what a real marriage

Matthew 5 - Adultery in the Heart

Can you truly commit adultery in your heart? Well Jesus said you can and if he said it - it's truth my brothers and sisters. In his sermon on the mount he continues to reveal to us the sins of the heart and how those sins have eternal consequences. Let's continue our bible study in Matthew 5:27-30.
27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old,[c] ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[d] 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and castit from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Firstly Jesus looked at "Do not commit murder." Now he refers to another commandment, "You shall not commit adultery."  With both of these commandments there was a consequence according to the law but Jesus is saying

Matthew 5 - Reconcile before it's too late

Matthew 5: 21-26 continues Jesus' sermon on the mount where he reveals further how important keeping our heart pure is.

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause[b] shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

The church I attended as a child put so much emphasis on being pure at heart before giving your tithes that before that part came up at every service, the pastor would say

Pray for Me

"Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed." James 5:16

Isn't it good to have a best friend whom you feel like you can share everything with? Share your deepest and innermost thoughts and transgressions? James says here that we ought to confess our trespasses to one another. How hard is that! It may be especially hard when

Bitter/sweet Ephesians 4:31-32


Ephesians 4:31-32 
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

On my way home, I forgot my bible in church so I turned around to retrieve it. By the time I got there, the church grounds were cleared but the pastor’s car was still there. I opened the church doors and shouting and screaming greeted me. As I got closer, I thought it was the drama team rehearsing but then the profanities were

A wise woan builds her house... Proverbs 14:1

A wise woman builds her house but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. - Proverbs 14:1

What a word! I read this over and over and was amazed everytime to know that we can be that foolish woman! We can be the one to tear down something we have built with our own hands.

Isn't it sad or hurtful to know that you have labored and struggled to build something for so long but because of your foolish actions, you tear it down with your own