Relationships between Men and Women

Typically my DH and I ride together to work since we both work at the same company, but last week and this week we have been driving separate since there isn't as much work in his department as there is in mine. I have been listening to my favorite radio station K-LOVE and they have been talking about the book, The Love Dare. They have been talking about the relationships between men and women. It would really apply to all of our relationships, family, friends, co-workers, customers. As Christians we are called to love one another as Jesus loves us (John 15:12). With Valentine's fast approaching and everyone thinking about their loved ones. I thought it would be a good time to study why men and women behave the way they do to one another. It is a bit of a power struggle at times. Especially for married couples (please note that this is just my opinion).

Let's look at Genesis 3:

Adam and Eve have allowed the serpent (Satan) to beguile them and thus disobey God by eating the fruit of the Tree of Life. (Genesis 3:1-13)

This displeased God greatly. (Genesis 3:14) So much so that God put a curse on the man and the woman. Genesis 3:15 "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise they head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." There will always be conflict between men and women, no matter how much we love each other. Genesis 3:16 "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and they desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." God made it so that the man would have responsibility over the woman, wherein she would have to be answerable to the man for her actions. Genesis 3:17 "17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded the, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life, 18 Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field:" I took this also to mean that there would be struggle in his marriage as the "field" of the bearing of his seed. There will always be conflicts between men and women. That's not to say that we can't overcome them. Through Christ's grace we are forgiven of the original sins of Adam and Eve. We are still human and we still bear those original curses, but the Lord wants a relationship with us so he has offered us a chance to overcome those curses. He gave us instructions in the bible that tell us exactly how to overcome these obstacles. (What??? I have to read my bible?? YEPPERS!!) We just have to be willing to work to live in the image of Christ and treat each other as he would have treated us. Not to be cliche, but we need to always be asking ourselves "What Would Jesus Do?" That's such a great phrase. It is so hard not to use it over and over because it makes a very good point. The way we live and behave should be an absolute reflection of the light of Christ. People should know we follow Christ by our actions and behaviors.

We can apply all this to our marriages and other relationships in our lives. Let's look at marriages for the purpose of my bible study. Going back to the Love Dare. It is a challenge that lasts 40 days (and hopefully much longer after you learn to redirect your behavior toward your spouse). Each day you have a new challenge in how you deal with the trials and temptations in your relationship. The book stems from the movie Fireproof where a couple dares themselves to save their dying marriage. I have not purchased the book yet, but the idea of it intrigues me greatly. Now getting my DH to participate may be another matter, but it would be really good for both of us and our children. We're not sinking by any means, but we do need to center our marriage more around Christ and how He would handle situations and not our human sides.

Let's talk about patience. Has your spouse ever said something to you and lightning quick....you respond with a retort of your own equal to or even more biting than the one that your spouse dealt. You thought, "Ha! That'll get him/her!" Then later you totally regret what you said and you have to go back, apologize and try to repair the damage that was caused by those words. Sometimes it can be repaired, but depending on what was said, sometimes it cannot be repaired. Then you have a problem. I know that I have this problem and I really have to fight to not say something back that I know will hurt deep. Real deep. In that instance, a deep breath, walking away, redirecting yourself is the best way to avoid making that possibly fatal mistake of saying those words you will regret later. If you can keep it from getting to the explosion level, you are better off. You won't have to do "damage control" and you both will be better for it. Now, this takes commitment from both parties. The other party has to be willing to not jab and poke and push buttons. That goes both ways. We all have started an argument at one time or another.

This all goes back to John 15:12-13 "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." In Genesis 2: 24 it says "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Whoa!!! What?? That means that when I am jabbing at my husband that I am jabbing at myself! Think about it this way too. Ephesians 5:22-25 says "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the had of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Whoa??!! What!! That means when I jab at my husband, I am also jabbing at Christ! Dude...that's not good! God doesn't mean that wives should submit themselves as doormats, but that they should defer to the husband as the husband has to defer to Christ. Yes, wives also have to defer to Christ, but if a wife is defering to her husband and he makes a bad decision, he is ultimately responsible for that decision with Christ. Wow. We are held accountable for our own actions, yes, however, if we make our own decisions with Christ in mind and as He would have us choose, we will reap the rewards for it. Having respect for each other and not provoking each other is definitely how Christ would want us to behave. I hope I have been able to bring some light.

Well, I don't have any photos yet. We didn't have any kids this last Sunday, so I did some preparing for the coming weeks.

I have decided that we are going to do the love (charity) chapter of 1 Corinthians for Valentine's Day. I am going to gear it toward the Preschool kids, but I know that the Lord will help me.

1 Corinthians 13
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
If we don't speak to each other with charity (love) all that anyone will hear from us is an annoying racket. Uck!
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
Nothing that we do matters if we don't do it to glorify God. Plain and simple!
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Sounds like Jesus doesn't it. Here is another example of the bible telling us that we need to be Christlike in our living and how we treat each other. What Would Jesus Do...this phrase sure applies to this chapter.
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Jesus (charity, love) never ails us, where all others do.9 For we know in part, and we prophecy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
HO HO! Won't that be a glorious day when our Savior returns! Watch out Satan!!
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
When we are saved and born again, we are babies again, we still only understand mostly worldly things, but as we grow in Christ, read his word and serve him, we begin to put away those worldly things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
We don't see things as clearly now, but when we see the face of Jesus, everything will all become wonderfully clear. The greatest gift we ever have gotten is our salvation by believing in our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN and AMEN!!

Creation Day 6

We are learning about Day 6 of Creation this Sunday in my class. It amazes me how the Lord created all of "this" in just 6 short days. Fascinating! Think of the complexities of everything. The complexity of the human body astounds me!

Genesis 1:24-31

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of teh earth after his king: and it was so.

He said it and it was done. How great is that!

25 And god made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

We are made in his image. Think about that. God is perfect and he makes no mistakes. You are just how he made you. That should make you stop and think a bit. If God is ok with you, you should be ok with you. He doesn't see the outside of you, he sees the inside of you. Aren't we grateful for that!! I know I am.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein tere is life, I have gien every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made and, behold it was very good. And the evening and the mornign were the sixth day.

Think about this passage the next time you are doubting if God will take care of you. He said "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth". He is saying, I will take care of you. Plain and simple. No matter what is going on in your life, if you have faith, God will be right there helping you along.

I'm so blessed with this opportunity to teach and learn at the same time. I thank the Lord every day for all the blessings that He bestows on me and my family. Even in the low times or valleys, He is still richly blessing us in one way or another. Just amazing to me. I can't even being to understand it, but you know what, I thoroughly believe that He is always there with me, ALWAYS.

Next time, I will post photos of our craft from Sunday. Should be fun.

Check out El Bethel's website in my links if you are looking for a home church. It is a wonderful, small old fashioned Baptist church with a congregation that is like family to us. We just love them all!

Until next we meet...

Sunday School Teacher

I still can't believe that I am actually a Sunday School Teacher. I just don't feel worthy, but I know that he only chooses those that he knows can handle the job. I have taken on my responsibilities with a gusto. I truly love researching and then teaching the kids. Right now, my students are mainly the grandchildren of some church members, but we are trying to grow the program, so hopefully there will be more regulars and I can really expand my curriculum.

We are going through Creation right now. I find it quite interesting how much I am learning while looking for things to teach my kids. I am reading my bible more and am learning so much myself! One of my favorite websites is Ministry to Children. They have such great lessons for different ages. It is an awesome place for beginners like me that don't know a thing about teaching a Sunday School class. I am teaching Preschool so I have requested more preschool lessons from them. I find that I am looking at their lessons and then going my own direction, but it is great to have the base to go from.

I think one of my favorite parts of teaching Sunday School is doing the crafts. I just love to craft. This last Sunday we made owls out of paper lunch sacks. What a hoot! HA! Did you know that you can make a bird feeder out of a pipe cleaner and Cheerios? Yep, you sure can. We did that too. They had a lot of fun with that one and ate some Cheerios in the process.

This Sunday we are starting an Opening Assembly. I am told it hasn't been done in the church in quite awhile and it is high time we did it! I am very excited about this as I have been asked to lead the songs. lalalalala! We're going to start with the Bible Song. There are several verses, but I think we are only going to do about 3 of them. Should be fun. I will report how it goes. We might even have a special guest named Jumpin' Jehosephat. One of our ladies loves to do clowning, puppets and characters. She came up with Jumpin' Jehosephat and we thought the children would love it. I will report on that as well.

Well, that is all for now. I will be back at a later date. Adios!

Welcome

Welcome to my musings on my Christian journey. I hope you find it insightful and you get as much out of my journey as I do.