Disposable?
All the reading and writing of forgiveness, Father, leaves me in awe and wonder of You. I know I have been forgiven many times over and when I need to be forgiven there is always love. May each time I come and sit with You, each time I think of You throughout the day, each time I ponder how much You care for me – may each of this times draw me closer to You, making me more like You. Help me to remain faithful more and more each day. Amen.
Matthew 19:1-12 (<<click the green)
dis·pos·a·ble | dəˈspōzəb(ə)l/
adjective
- intended to be used once, or until no longer useful, and then thrown away.
We most assuredly live in a disposable society – get what you want out of it and throw it away. It’s one thing if it’s a tissue for your nose or a cup from a fast-food restaurant…but a spouse?
First– people are not disposable. Period. They are not intended to be used once, or until no longer useful, and then thrown away. From the moment of conception, we are living, feeling beings created in the image of our Creator. We are unique. We are precious. Our value is incalculable! Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, took upon himself the sin of every person to ever walk the face of this earth and paid the penalty for that sin – death – because we are cherished by Him! We were worth more than life itself to Him! We were – and are – worth the sacrifice!
So, that being the case, how can we so easily “dispose” of one another?
Marriage is a sacred and holy union. When questioned about the legitimacy of divorce Jesus said, “[The Scriptures] record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’[Genesis 1:27; 5:2] ” And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’[Genesis 2:24] Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
I understand that there are extenuating circumstances and abuse in a relationship should never be tolerated, but most of us are not in that situation. Our reasoning is that we have “fallen out of love” – love is not something to fall into or out of – it is conscientious, deliberate, diligent labor with the greatest of rewards!
Being that we are created in the image of our Creator we should then look at our spouse as precious, individuals with an incalculable value that should be cherished. Our spouses are worth the sacrifice – whatever that may be.
Jesus gave us this command, “Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13:34) May it be so.
Aug 2nd, 2018, Thurs, 7:07 am
Homemade Vegetable Soup
(Another well-received post from the past. )
Father, thank You for getting us through yesterday. Some aspects of it were much more involved than we had anticipated. But You were with us all along the way. Continue to keep Your might hand on Karen, please, and may her healing be speedy and complete. Amen
Hebrews 3:1-2 (<<click here)
“…think carefully about this Jesus…”
My study Bible* says that we are “to fix our minds, ponder carefully, and focus on the true significance of Jesus. How much do we do that?” In our world today aren’t the words “fix”, “ponder” and “focus” a little hard to come by?
Lord, I tell You it is a challenge to do so. All kinds of distractions are out there. And it is easy to have the “I want it now!” attitude.
One of my favorite winter meals is homemade vegetable soup…yummm! Out of a can, you can have it in a couple of minutes but the absolute best is homemade and it takes some time. Everything needs to be chopped up and even when you get everything put together it has to cook – you can’t just heat it up – all day simmering in the crockpot is what it takes – it is not instantaneous! But the results are well worth the wait!
The same is true in our relationship with You, Lord. We can have immediate access to You but if we want to have the greatest impact on our lives it takes thoughtful, methodical effort on our part. We have to deliberately invest in our relationship.
This passage tells us that You are “God’s messenger” so we should listen to you, You are His “High Priest.” Our access to the Father and You – being “entrusted with God’s entire house” – are someone we must obey. We have every reason to come to You, may we do so eagerly and with great anticipation.
Feb 25th, 2016, Thurs, 10:08 am
*New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible
Forgiveness…continued
Thank You, Father, for a night of rest. May I find rest in You throughout today. May I be a vessel of Your rest for the weary around me. Amen.
Matthew 18:21-35 (<<click the green)
“…one little word should be so hard – Forgiveness”
But it is, isn’t it? According to my study Bible* in Jesus’ day, religious leaders said you only had to forgive someone three times. Peter, in today’s passage, thinking he was being generous, asked the Lord, if seven times was enough. Jesus quickly replied, “No, not seven times…but seventy times seven!” We’re not to keep track up to 490 occurrences but we are to never stop forgiving.
“…one little word should be so hard – Forgiveness”
One source I found online says that forgiveness, as a concept, appears 141 times in the Bible – 66 in the Old Testament and 75 in the New Testament. Jesus spoke of it frequently. In fact, when I looked back I wrote about forgiveness in regards to Jesus’ statements in Matthew 6:14-15 just six months ago (see Forgiveness – 01/24/18).
How many times has God forgiven us? Three? Seven? Seventy times seven? Yes…yes…yes…and millions of times times yes! There are days I surpass those numbers added together! Just me…no one else! Does God ever warn me of inching up on my quota for life? Nope…never.
A song I heard a few years back brought tears to my eyes because it hits home. And, surprise, it’s entitled “Forgiveness” and was sung by Jim Witter. I would encourage you to watch this video that someone made of his song – lyrics are included. I pray that the Lord will help me…and you…to live lives of forgiveness.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
July 31st, 2018, Tues, 7:51 am
Harmony
Father, it has been a full day but a good day. As I am winding down, may this time with You be sweet and linger in my mind as I lay down to sleep. Amen.
Matthew 18:19-20 (<<click the green)
“Again I say to you, that if two believers on earth agree [that is, are of one mind, in harmony] about anything that they ask [within the will of God], it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.“ AMP
Harmony… What couldn’t we accomplish with harmony? Think of music. One of the many groups I enjoy is Home Free. Of all things, they are an acapella country group. If you want to hear some beautiful vocal harmony, listen to their rendition of “How Great Thou Art” (click to listen).
A few years back I was a part of a mixed trio and when we sang it was not a matter of seeing who could sing the loudest. In the middle of a song, we didn’t just belt out another song we liked. We joined our efforts. We blended our voices so that the melody would be clearly heard. We worked hard at singing in such a way that the full sound of harmony filled every nook and cranny!
Harmony is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? And not just in music. Jesus goes on to say in this passage, “For where two or three are gathered in My name [meeting together as My followers], I am there among them.”
If we could just learn to work together, oh what we could do! As we come together with fellow believers our goal should be to work in harmony, blending our strengths and weaknesses to fill in all the nooks and crannies with the harmony of love. And at the head of every body of believers is Christ – blending, shaping, guiding, directing –so that every one of us reaches our full potential and impacts the world for His Kingdom – not ours. Lord Jesus, unite us!
July 30th, 2018, Mon, 8:45 pm
Good Good Father
(Another very busy week, so another well-received post. Congratulations to my parents as they have officially retired – after their first retirement – from 26 years of service from their last – and current – church. Many, many blessings given and received! What a joy to spend the day with them!)
It’s been an unusual last couple of days, Father, but no matter what comes down the pike You are ever faithful. The norm is for me to be at least one day ahead in my journaling so as to be ready a bit in advance for my blog post each weekday. But the way things have landed, I have been up a little earlier than usual and have written (really keyed in on the PC) the day of instead. Thank you for being with me Father, no matter when or where, You are ever by my side.
Now I am by far a hymn kind of guy. Many churches have gone the way of contemporary worship. I sang on a worship team myself some years ago. I realize that a lot of people appreciate that style of worship – I just prefer hymns. But just because that’s my preference, it doesn’t mean that I live under a rock.
As I woke up this morning at 4:59 my first thought was that You are a good Father. I needed to wake up, then write, but in the time I’ve been writing (almost two years now) I have never set an alarm. Every day You wake me up. You are a good Father. Sometimes, I’m sad to say, I’ve rolled over and thought, “Just a couple more minutes…” and I’ve woken up too late to spend time with You. But, as I said in my opening sentence, You are ever faithful. You have never given up on me. And I…I am ever grateful.
A couple of years ago, Chris Tomlin released a song entitled “Good, Good, Father”. I’d say that I’ve made it pretty clear about how I feel about You, Father. I love You, that’s for sure. But this song has a wonderful message worth sharing. Give it a listen.
If you’d like to hear a little about how and why the song was written, here’s another link. God bless.
The story behind “Good Good Father”
Mar 3rd, 2017, Fri, 5:07 am