What Is God’s Role for a Husband?

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Before we can answer that specific question, we have to take a step back and remind ourselves what responsibilities God has given to all his children, not just to husbands.  In the fifth chapter of the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul reminds all of God’s people to mimic their heavenly Father by living lives of love.  This love, he goes on to explain will often show itself in the way each Christian will put the needs of others ahead of his or her own.  This submission to others is a mutual submission and always an expression of love.

While every Christian will seek to love others as Christ has loved him, and while every Christian will submit to the needs of others as an expression of that love, a Christian husband is called to do this in a very specific way in his marriage.  Jesus wants the Christian husband to mimic him (i.e. Jesus) in the way he treats his wife.

So, Jesus says, a Christian husband is to demonstrate his love for his wife by loving her in the way and to the degree that Christ has loved his church, the gathering of every believer.  To know the height and depth and extent of Jesus’ love for you, is to know how Christ wants a Christian husband to love his wife.

Consider such words of Christ.  “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10:14).  “The good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep” (John 10:11).

That is the kind of love a husband is to show his wife.  That is the way a husband is to speak to his wife.  That is how well a husband is to know the needs of his wife and family.  That is the kind of attitude a husband is to adopt as he provides godly leadership for his family.  That is the extent to which a husband will go to demonstrate his love.  The Christian husband is not a self-serving tyrant.  The Christian husband is the self-sacrificing, servant leader Christ has called him and made him to be.

When the Christian husband loves his wife as Christ loves the church what a beautiful picture he paints for his wife and his children of Christ’s love for them!  That is the greatest role a husband can fill.

Why can’t I stop?

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“I just can’t help myself.”  we have all bailed out of acknowledging weakness with that stock phrase. Sometimes it is as innocent as a desperate dieter trying to walk past a piece of fresh blueberry pie. Often, though, it is far more dangerous. An individual frantically tries to break out of the prison of pills or the dungeon of drugs. Someone else is willingly robbed by the one-armed bandit of gambling. Another tries to swim out of the cesspool of pornography, only to find the current of erotica a deadly undertow that undermines marriage and family and even self-esteem. You are not alone. Your plea has already been heard on the pages of Scripture. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Realize that no human being can pull himself or herself out of such peril. The Bible accurately portrays the frantic efforts. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Why can’t I stop? Because I cannot, not by my own strength or efforts.

Yet do not despair. Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Jesus means Savior, and he can pull us up out of addictions and rescue us from ourselves. Jesus loves you enough to send concerned family or friends to support you. Jesus loves you enough to provide the blessing of professional medical help and therapy. Jesus extends his hand of healing in so many ways. Jesus loves you enough to hear the desperation in your prayers and quietly promise you, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!

How does Satan tempt us?

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Satan also knows us well. But the way he knows us is different from the way God knows us. God knows us because he knows everything.

One of the most famous kings over the Hebrew people in Old Testament times was a man named David. He also wrote many of the psalms. In one of them he states, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord.”

What David said about God is not something we could say about Satan. He is not everywhere at once as God is. Nor can he read all of our thoughts as God can.

But the devil has spent a lot of time studying us. He knows our habits, even our sinful ones. That puts him in a good position to tempt us. For he knows that some things will be more tempting for us than others.

For example, some people are tempted by money. They may steal money from a coworker, roommate, or relative. That is their weakness. So the devil does what he can to place these temptations before them.

This was true for a disciple of Jesus called Judas. This man loved money, so the devil tempted him to negotiate with the Jewish leaders to betray Jesus. In exchange he would be paid a good sum of money. He fell for the temptation and sold his friend for a bag of cash.

What are your pet sins? What are some of the sinful things that tempt you? Gossip? Evil thoughts?  Internet porn? Material stuff? Popularity? Sex? To a certain extent we all have different weaknesses. And the devil knows that.

The good thing is that God also knows our weaknesses. Instead of tempting us to sin, God promises to help us avoid temptation. That’s what a line in the Lord’s Prayer is all about: “But lead us not into temptation.” When we pray those words, we are asking that God would help us avoid or overcome temptation. We know that he has the power to help us. For Jesus resisted the devil’s temptation three times in the wilderness (See Matthew 4) and many times after that.

It’s kind of scary to think that the devil knows our weaknesses. But think of it—Jesus knows them, too. And he has promised to help us overcome them.

Can God help me build up my self-esteem?

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“I’m worthless!”

That’s a depressing statement. Yet many people silently admit to themselves that they are worthless.  The single mom who doesn’t feel loved; the child or adult who can never seem to do anything right for his parents; the employee who messed up on the job again; they and many others feel that they are not worth very much.  Maybe you’ve felt this way.  Is there an area of your life in which you want to feel better about yourself?

Many say you can establish a positive self-image by focusing on your skills, accomplishments, status, financial resources, or appearance.  There’s “help” out there in the form of self-hypnosis, support groups, affirmation and visualization techniques, plastic surgery, self-help books, CDs, DVDs, and other attempts to build self-esteem.  All these efforts only provide a temporary, superficial lift.  Ultimately they prove to be feeble efforts to feel worthwhile.

We all want to feel a sense of worth, love, and security in our lives, but we can’t provide them for ourselves.  But God can.  He freely gives them to us through his Son, Jesus.  His Word tells us not to focus on ourselves but on him, to look not at what we’ve done but at what he’s done for us through Jesus Christ.  Our sense of worth and value – our self-esteem – is found in the Savior who lived and died in our place.

A man named Paul realized this when he said, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).  In Jesus we find a status before God that we could never produce, a love from God that is unfailing, and the security for life in knowing that our Savior who loves us will be with us each and every day.

God’s way of helping us build up our self-esteem is showing us Jesus.  Please join us to find out more about your Savior who lived and died for you.

I’m tired of all the bad news

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God help me! What’s the a solution to all of these problems?

Have you noticed lately the newspaper headlines and the lead stories on the evening news?  They don’t really change much over the years.  Plenty of ink is spilled about the financial crisis, disease, wars, murders, rapes, or other forms of violent crime—seeking the most wanted.  Our eyes watch tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes unfold before us on the airwaves.  Life can often look pretty bleak in many parts of the world.

But the problems aren’t just in other parts of the world.  Sometimes the hurt, the pain, and the tragedies we often read or hear about actually invade our own personal lives.  Being on the receiving end can lead us to blurt out in frustration:

  • “Why are people so unfriendly? There is so much rage and anger everywhere.”
  • “My marriage has been suffering for months, and the possibility of it changing seems hopeless.  Some days I wished I’d never walked down the aisle.”
  • “I can’t speak up. I’ll be cancelled.”
  • “Why am I being bullied and targeted? I’m scared.”
  • “Why do people I love have to develop cancer?  It doesn’t seem fair. I feel hopeless not being able to help them get well.”
  • “My kids won’t listen to me! It feels as though I have completely lost control.”
  • “Why are people telling lies about everything and everyone? Who can I believe?”
  • “I’m so lonely that some days I honestly feel that I am the only one left in the world.”
  • “Why me? What did I do to deserve this? I’ve been the positive one.”
  • “Why can’t I stop? Am I addicted?”
  • “Why is it that MY job was cut? I’m such a better worker than so and so.”

Life has its problems.  Each of us has our problems.  Death, an uncertain world, sickness, broken promises, and severed relationships – do you ever get tired of all the bad news?  It can lead us to wonder, “Is there a solution?”

Yes, there is!  It starts first with God helping us understand that all of life’s problems are really a symptom of the big problem of sin.

And, now the Good News!

The awesome news is that God freely gives us the complete solution to that problem of sin. After living and dying for us, Jesus rose again on Easter Sunday.  He is the solution!  God tells us that he has given us “a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

Tired of the bad news?  Come and learn about the good news of God’s solution to life’s problems.  This news will never become old.

Related Devotion: Who’s In Charge? 

Can a Christian Fight in a War?

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The well-known song poses the question, “War! (huh-yeah) What is it good for?”  It also provides the singer’s opinion as to the answer: “Absolutely nothing!”

Whether we agree with the singer’s conclusion or not, war is an ongoing occurrence in our world today, and will continue to be until Jesus returns (Mark 13:7). Such a reality may lead us to question whether or not it is acceptable in God’s eyes for a Christian to fight in a war.

In Scripture, we do not find a nice, simple list that God gives of acceptable reasons for fighting in a war; neither do we find a list of unacceptable reasons.  So we are left to apply some biblical examples and principals to help us arrive at an answer to the question at hand.

As God guided his people throughout Old Testament history, there were many occasions on which he commanded his people to wage war against enemies.  Often times this was an effort to keep the sinful practices of neighboring nations (e.g., idolatry or sexual immorality) from influencing Israel.  Not only did God specifically tell his people to go to war in some cases, but he also gave his blessing by granting them victory.  It would seem to be a contradiction then for God to command the Old Testament believers to go to war if fighting in a war was unacceptable to him.

In the New Testament John the Baptist preached a sermon once.  Afterward, some soldiers approached him and asked how they could show that they were sorry for their sins.  John didn’t tell them to stop sinning by serving as soldiers or that they couldn’t go to war, but said, “Don’t exhort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay” (Luke 3:14).  Certainly we would expect some sort of admonition if it was wrong or sinful to serve as a soldier.  Moreover, we would hardly expect to hear the apostle Paul use the term “soldier” in a complementary manner in his letters if serving as a soldier was contrary to God’s will (Philippians 2:25; 2 Timothy 2:3,4).

Finally, war is a responsibility given to governments by God. “[The government] is God’s servant to do you good.  But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.  He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4).  God has given governments the responsibility of upholding justice.  Governments then carry out that responsibility by enlisting people to serve in various agencies, like police forces or the military.  Therefore, when a person serves in that capacity, the person is serving as a representative of the government.  The Christian then can in good conscience serve in such a role knowing that he is both serving God’s representatives in the government (in keeping with the 4th Commandment), and serving and protecting his fellowman (in keeping with the 5th Commandment).

Feeling Down?

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Do you ever feel that things you do really don’t make a difference?

Is it sometimes difficult to see the results of your hard work?

There are many times when we may ask ourselves, “What’s the point? Why do I keep trying?”

When events in our lives lead us to become depressed or discouraged, two reactions come rather easily to us.  The first is blaming God for the problems.  The second is thinking that somehow God is punishing us for something we have done.  However, neither of these reactions is correct.

The problem lies not with God; it lies with sin.  All of life’s problems come as a result of living in a world filled with sin.  These problems include layoffs at work, health problems, family issues, and others.  We’d have to get rid of sin to remove the troubles and problems that discourage us. But that’s something we could spend the rest of our lives trying to accomplish and never complete the task. Thankfully, God accomplished what we are unable to do.

Through faith in our Savior, we are children of God.

We deserve to be sentenced under the judgment of God for everything we do or say or think that violates God’s will for us to live perfect lives.  But the Bible gives us the good news from God that “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).  In tremendous love for us, God took away all of our sins and laid them on Jesus.  He charged his Son with our guilt.  Jesus, our Savior, suffered the punishment that we deserved.  He died to free us from eternal death.

Even though we experience discouragements in our life, nothing can take away the peace we have in Jesus, who took away our sins.  Through faith in our Savior, we are children of God.  Every day God is at our side helping us through difficult times.  Confidently trusting in him, our discouragements melt into calm assurance that our loving God is always leading us.

Contentment – How do I live in a material world?

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Bang!  The window shattered.  My wife was driving our minivan when, for no apparent reason, a back window exploded.  It had no visible flaws, but the harsh desert sun had obviously taken its toll and fatigued the glass.  In an instant, the window, which had seemed to be durable and lasting, revealed its true state – its perishing nature.

This window is typical of the material things in this world.  Everything this world “owns” is temporary.  Even when we don’t realize it, our possessions are growing old and wearing out (like my van’s window).  When we understand the true nature of our earthly goods we look at them in a different way.  Jesus once said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).  Your car, your house, your body, and everything else will age and fall apart.  Treasure in heaven is treasure that lasts forever.  That is what we really should be concerned about.

Owning the biggest house or the fastest boat won’t get you into heaven.  That’s because heaven is not about material wealth.  It’s about goodness.  Jesus once asked, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”  (Mark 8:36-37)  Our soul is our most important possession.  Because of our sins of greed, envy and theft, we are not worthy to experience the blessings of heaven.  And no matter how hard we work to try to earn heaven, God says that we fall short.  By our own efforts, we can never be good enough to get into heaven.  But Jesus is!

The Apostle Paul wrote, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).  Jesus wants you to be rich in heaven.  He came down to earth so that we could live with him forever.  He lived and died for you to make you righteous in God’s eyes.  Jesus has credited his perfection to your account.  Because of Jesus, God loves you and takes care of all of your needs.

How do we in live with contentment in a material world?  First, we understand the true value of our earthly possessions: they do not last and they cannot buy us heaven.  Second, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and the home that he has prepared for us in heaven.  Then we will live every day assured of God’s love and caring.  That is true contentment.  Paul confirms this when he says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).

Something’s Missing

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“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” – Luke 12:21

Something was missing.  That’s what Bill thought.  It wasn’t like there was anything wrong; there was just something missing.

Bill was able to take an early retirement.  He had worked hard.  He advanced rapidly.  In addition to all of this, Bill was a good investor.  Even when people said it was foolish to take stock options, he did it just the same.  Consequently, when he received the offer to retire early, he was able to take advantage of it.

He was 55 years old, retired and financially secure.  He had good health.  He was able to enjoy himself and travel.  He even started a consulting business that kept him as busy as he wanted to be.  However, late at night he always felt something was missing.

Bill’s problem is one many people have.  They look at their lives and conclude something is missing.

As I look at my life, most of the time it seems to be in order.  I am not a multi-millionaire, but things could be worse.  The bills are paid.  My family is not lacking anything important.  There is even a little left over for savings.  Still, the nagging thought remains – something is missing.

The problem I need to address is the very issue to which Jesus directs my attention.  It is easy to focus on preparations for this life.  It is just as easy to see wealth and a steady flow of income as my highest priority.  This may lead me to scrimp and save, and even sacrifice.  But, after the bills are paid and the investments pay dividends, what’s next?

Jesus teaches me the wealth of this world is secondary.  He also wants me to understand it will never prepare me for the life to come, nor can it ever prepare me to stand before the Judge of all.  This is why I need to have a clear understanding of what it means to be rich toward God.

Being rich toward God is not measured in financial terms.  It requires spiritual ones.  Being rich toward God means I can live my life with the true direction his Word provides.  Being rich toward God means my debt of sin has been paid by my Savior’s sacrifice.  Being rich toward God means I am able to stand before God as he desires – without fault or blame.  Often, it is this wealth that is missing in my life, and until I return to the one who gives it, there will always be that nagging feeling – something’s missing.

Jesus reveals what’s missing in my life.  Then he offers to fill it with his rich blessing.  As I store up his lasting wealth in my life, I can be confident nothing important will ever be missing.

Can God Help Me Find Faithful Friends?

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Have you ever longed for a solid friendship?  Have you ever wondered if there’s a friend out there that you can count on?  It’s no secret that a true friendship is a rare thing.

That’s not to say there aren’t people who will pay attention to us!  The world is full of people who will be our friend as long as they feel we have something to offer.  But what about that friend who sticks by us, even when we’re at the end of our rope?  What about the one who cares about us even when we have nothing to give?  Is it possible that God could provide such a friendship?

Certainly God has a good track record of providing friendships to those in need.  When David was under attack by King Saul, he found a faithful friend in the person of Jonathan, Saul’s son.  The Bible tells us that Jonathan “loved David as he loved himself” (1 Samuel 20:17) and even defended David against his father’s attacks.

We’re also told that the apostle Paul had several friends that attended him while he was in prison.  They were of great help to him at a time when he really needed a friend.

But even during those times when true friendship seems far away, there is one friend who will stick by us no matter what!  That person is God’s one and only Son – Jesus.

There’s a verse in the Bible that says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).  What a beautiful description of Jesus’ friendship for us.

Just think!  Even when we sinned, Jesus didn’t abandon us.  Instead, he stood in our place, taking our sin and guilt for us and then giving his life for ours to set us free from eternal death!  Jesus also earned a place for us in God’s family. By faith in him, we have the privilege of being heirs of his promised heaven.  And he did it all because he loved us even more than he loved his own life.

Looking for a faithful friendship?  Simply look to Jesus!  His friendship will never end!