Bricks

Sometimes, we I as a Christian, ‘say’ things without really thinking through the consequences of what I’m saying, and God says, “Whoa, wait – that’s not what I meant!” Then He goes through all sorts of ways to try and reinforce what He actually did mean.

Yesterday was one of those days, and God made sure that I really knew that the way that I was thinking was wrong, and I find it utterly amazing that God will use several different ways of reinforcing the same idea. Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier for Him to use a brick to get His idea across!

To backstep just a little, I said that I wouldn’t like to be found in creased clothes when Jesus returns, but then one of my dear friends, Ruby said, “We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We each must have the wedding garment to enter the marriage feast on that great day!”.

Just to reinforce that point, Amanda came here with the idea of writing almost the same thing. She wrote, “Oh Ruby, you took the words right out of my mouth! I came back to say the very thing you said!!”. Now, as if that isn’t amazing enough, our Bible devotion this morning was all about false hope, and it stated that, “God’s standard of perfection, however, requires a totally sinless life. There’s no way any of us can ever be ‘good enough’. It is only through the sacrifice of the sinless Saviour that we are made righteous. God made Jesus ” who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

It is not important what we wear when Jesus returns, for we shall be,

“arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints”. Revelation 19:8

I truly look forward to the day when we shall meet with Jesus, and be arrayed in the fine linen of His righteousness.

Accept the teaching of the world

And hopeless you will be,

But trust in God’s eternal plan

If you want life that’s free. - Branon

The High Cost of Selfishness and Self-pity

This essay is my son’s report on “The High Cost of Selfishness and Self-pity”, for his Christian Growth, PACE 136, and it is a subject that is at the heart of many broken marriages and failed friendships. I hope that you enjoy reading it.

The cost of selfishness and self-pity is very high. Selfishness and self-pity lead to many problems in the home. These include domestic disputes, anger, divorce, violence, and affairs among many other things. Selfishness has lead to many unhappy marriages even between committed Christians. Selfishness harbours resent; even though the person may not see the situation as unfair, it may just be their outlook that makes it feel that way. Selfishness is a sin, and sin can take many forms. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says, “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” Sin may appear as if you have been wronged, but that is the way that Satan wants you to see it. He likes to disguise sin and deceive Christians with that sin. And [Satan] shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, (Revelation 20:8). It must really grieve God to see His children deceived by the Wicked One.

When marriages end in divorce, it is usually because of selfishness in one or both of the couple’s hearts. What may start out as a trivial matter will then be dwelt upon and fester up inside of one or both of the couple and then grow into resent, which is really selfishness or self-pity in disguise. They will continue to dwell upon the resent until it becomes such a great burden that they explode and the once happy marriage will end in divorce. Satan loves to see marriages fall to pieces as it means that his tactics have worked yet again inside of a happy, successful marriage between two committed Christians. If only married couples realized that resent is really selfishness, and selfishness is really a sin, then many marriages could be saved before they ended in a divorce.

Self-pity has many the same symptoms as selfishness. It can disguise itself just the same under a cloak of “Poor me!” or just like an affiliate link that has been cloaked, it is still self-pity, no matter what disguise it takes. It still takes you to the same endpoint whether it is seen or disguised. If it is disguised it may just take a little longer to get to the same end. Just like an affiliate at the end there is a cost. The cost with self-pity is always high, no matter whether it is “cloaked” or not. It may be a friendship that someone has broken, it may be a marriage that has ended in divorce, or it may be a business venture that has ended in failure.

If you are suffering from selfishness or self-pity, then pray to God that He will help you to find the source of that selfishness or self-pity. Then either remove the source from your life, or ask God to help you overcome the thing that is causing this problem. If you ask God, He will surely help you to overcome that thing in your life – all you have to do is ask.

Original image from here.

Ten Rules for a Happy Marriage

Ten Rules for a Happy Marriage

1. Never both be angry at the same time.

2. Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire.

3. If one of you has to win the argument, let it be your mate.

4. If you have to ctiticise, do it lovingly.

5. Never bring up mistakes of the past.

6. Neglect the whole world rather than each other.

7. Never go to sleep with an argument unsettled.

8. At least once every day, try and say one kind and complimentary word to your life’s partner.

9. When you have done something wrong, be ready to admit it, and ask for forgiveness.

10. It takes two to make a quarrel, and the one in the wrong is the one who does the most talking.

This is a wall hanging that we have hanging in our lounge room, and is one that my husband bought me for one of my birthdays. I love the simplicity of the wording on it, but it is ever so true. How many husbands and wives could argue if they implemented these rules in their marriage? However, there is one more that should be at the beginning, and that is to put God’s Word first in all things.

Happy Anniversary to the Adepts

It is Mr and Mrs Adept’s 16th wedding anniversary today, so I created the “card” for you in Photoshop using a photo of the jasmine that we have growing in our gateway. The jasmine is absolutely stunning at this time of year, but if you go through the gate, you need to take a breath before you get there and not breathe while going through it. The perfume is rather overwhelming, but the plant is so spectacular that it is worth it.

May the Lord grant you many more years of happiness together, and I hope that you have a wonderful day.

What is Marriage?